


From Hell's Kitchen

by MaxReichenblack



Category: Original Work
Genre: Angst, FBI, Fluff and Smut, Friendship goals, From 'I don't like you so much' to 'I might like you too much', Homophobia, I don't know what kind of tags should I use, I'll probably add more in the future, M/M, Medication, Military Backstory, Original work - Freeform, Police, Sassy James, Serial Killers, Some Humor, Therapy, detective detecting things, not dealing with issues, nypd, police work can be boring sometimes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-02
Updated: 2018-02-21
Packaged: 2018-11-07 23:27:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 26,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11069283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaxReichenblack/pseuds/MaxReichenblack
Summary: Bad things always come in threes. Or so it seems to James. In just a few days, they have a serial killer on the loose, some guy breaks up with him and his family is in the middle of a crisis. And if that wasn't enough, the FBI team working the case with them have brought a shrink that seems to be very interested in finding out everything that's wrong with him.





	1. Chapter 1

 

It was past seven when James finally left his desk.

He’d been several hours finishing reports from his last solved case, a murder carried out by a spiteful lover. A regular Agatha Christie with mistresses, jealousy and a knife in someone’s back.

Physically and mentally drained after days working on that case, and thanking God it was finally over. James was more than ready to get the hell out of the station his mind already on his comfortable couch and the six pack in his fridge, when his partner, at least by now, Zach Willows appeared on his line of vision.

“We deserve a few drinks after this,” said the cop.

James glanced up. Sitting down, Zach’s height was even more pronounced. He was inches taller than James, who, in his humble opinion, was tall enough at six one, and a great deal bulkier. He even had a red-haired beard, which James was sure Zach trimmed with extreme care every day. Zach was what anyone would call a bear.

A wet dream of a bear at that, but so not James’ type. Not that he would never say that aloud.

“Just one?” James asked with a sardonic smile.

In light of having been scratched by an irate woman in the process of placing her under arrest (nail marks still stinging on his neck) he figured he deserved a lot more than a few drinks. And cheap alcohol wouldn’t cut it this time either.

“Where’s everybody? They all left?”

He was looking around the empty office space. There was no one to be seen in the whole homicide unit.

“Braverman left hours ago,” said Zach dismissively. “You know, she has kids, a husband… better things to do.”

“And you think I don’t?”

He could have been out at some bar or club picking up someone for the night. Which, now that he thought about it, was exactly what he needed. It wasn’t hard for him to find someone to play with, after all, he was what anyone would call attractive, if not handsome, although, at that precise moment, he probably looked like half-eaten sushi. He hadn’t shave in the last two days, his dark blond hair was probably sticking out in all directions and the lack of sleep probably had given him dark circles under his eyes. Not to mention the bad shape of his suit, the jacket and shirt were wrinkled and the neck of his shirt had some blood on it.

“Let’s get out of here before someone mistakes us for the night shift guys.”

Jacket and cellphone in hand, he started towards the elevator. Both of them carried their jackets on their arms since it would still be hot outside, and they knew it.

Just as they set foot outside the station, the change in the temperature became unbearable, especially for that time of day. New York was suffering one of the worst heat waves in years.

“I’m going to melt,” James said as he started to undo his tie. “It’s almost dark now, cannot the heat give us a rest?”

“It’s global warming,” explained Zach like he was talking to a child.

“Don’t lie to me. It’s the Republicans.”

“What do they have to do with anything?”

“They keep saying climate change doesn’t exist, so it’s their fault. Anyway, it’s hot as hell out here, be a normal person for once and complain.”

The heat tended to make James a little bit cranky. A lot of things made James cranky.

“What do you mean by ‘be a normal person for once’?” asked Zach surprised and offended. It wasn’t only the hipster things, it was also the hipster clothes. Zach was wearing burgundy slacks, a white shirt and suspenders, and the navy jacket on his arm. James was sure that his partner even had a collection of bowties.

“Dude, you’re a vegan. And yesterday you also said this heat was good because sweating was good. Who thinks sweating is good?”

“It helps to release toxins…” he started.

James knew it was the beginning of some sort of explanation about the positive benefits of sweating so he hurried to cut the guy off.

“Sweating is only good if somebody is sweating under you, and that’s the end of it.”

And it was the end of that conversation since they were already at the door of the pub.

A real old Irish pub that, at some point, became a nearby refuge for cops who didn’t want to go home just yet. Barry waved from behind the bar and they walked straight to the empty stools.

“Guinness for me and vegan water for my friend,” called James when he sat, leaving his jacket in the stool next to his.

“What the fuck is vegan water, Knox?” asked Barry, not getting the joke.

A pity, James thought. He was doomed to remain a misunderstood genius.

“I’ll have a Bud Light Barry,” said Zach sighing.

“Hey, how come you can have a beer? Isn’t it against your religion?”

“True,” agreed Barry “Do vegans drink beer?”

“Budweiser doesn’t use animal ingredients, additives, or processing agents.”

“Dude, do you need to make a pro-vegan speech out of everything?”

“Zach, what are you doing with this idiot?” asked Barry, finally. The barman had probably seen a lot of cops in some of their lowest moments, but James always managed to surprise with something new. Barry was probably in his mid-thirties, had gray eyes and short dark brown hair, and in James critical opinion, was probably too smart to be just the barman at the pub. He was up to something, and James was going to find out what.

“Nobody else wanted to work with him. And now I know why ” Zach explained.

It wasn’t a lie. Braverman, who held the current record, lasted two weeks with James. To James’ dismay, he suspected the ever-calm vegan pacifist Zach would last longer.

Not that he had anything against the big red guy, it just wasn’t the kind of person he wanted for a partner. Nor were the ten other people he had teamed up in the last few months.

“Another partner? You change them more than you change your shirt, man.”

Barry had already seen a parade of people coming in with James, and they pretty much never came back with him a second time.

“It’s not my fault, they’re short-tempered.”

“Well, Zach isn’t, so he might last.”

“James is a good cop,” said Zach good-naturedly. “He has one hell of an instinct. Also, he knows how to handle his women. I sort of like him.” He shot him a sideways glance. “When he is not a jerk.”

“I’m a jerk? I solved the case, and you took half the credit,” James said pointing an accusatory finger from around the neck of his beer.

“And the crazy woman attacked you.”

“At least a woman touched me in the last half century,” James defended himself, like the adult he was supposed to be.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Zach inquired, scowling.

“Dude, you don’t look half bad, and somehow you are a mess when it comes to women. I’ve been watching you. What is it? Are you afraid of them?”

“You’ve been _watching_ me?”

“He’s not wrong,” Barry piped up. “You’re always salivating over that blondie who comes here with the nerdy guys.”

“Oh, you must mean Megan from the lab. She’s a cutie, isn’t she Zachary?”

“I asked you not to call me that. And it’s none of your business… and how the hell do you know about all that? You two are worse than a pair of old hags gossiping…”

“Oh come on Zach, don’t get mad, we want to help,” said Barry, pulling out another Bud that nobody asked for, but Zach clearly needed.

“Actually, I have no intention of helping,” James corrected with a curt sniff. “I’m just here for the beer. And because of the apocalypse out there.”

When Barry agreed, Zach tried to bring on the speech about sweating and James ended up asking for shots to relieve the hipster pain-in-the-ass that was Zach Willows.

When James thought he was going to be going home soon, a miracle in the form of Alek entered the bar.

Alekanekelo Greene, the best friend anyone can have, the most chilled-out and the most Hawaiian guy in the world, was someone James had met the day he enrolled in the Marines. They were both kids, both running away from something, and they grew up together and became men together.

Not necessarily together. But they were blood brothers now, and because of that, Alek was the usual victim of James’ twisted mind.

To James’ bother, Alek was slightly taller than him and he had that tanned skin the whole year, which added to his exotic features typical from the Pacific Islands and his dark green eyes, it made of Alek any female wet dream.

“Ku`u Hoaloha `Oi!” greeted James, half-sincere, half-sarcastic.

“You need, really need to stop googling shit,” Alek said sitting next to his friend without paying any heed to the jacket he was now crushing beneath his weight. “’My best friend’? Really? Couldn’t you look for something funnier to learn in Hawaiian? And you mispronounced it”

“Hawaiian is hard. Teach me. How do you ask for free shots?”

“You don’t. Barry, a Guinness and something strong enough to make him shut up.”

“How about a baseball bat?” Barry suggested.

“How about no?” James turned back to Alek. “What are you doing here? Not working tonight?”

“What do you think?” ~~~~

“That Zach poisoned me with his quinoa quiche this morning and I’m actually in a coma in the hospital and all this is a dream.”

Alek looked at him in silence for a long moment and then looked at Zach over James’ shoulder.

“Did you really give him quinoa quiche?”

Zach shrugged, his face a mixture of apathy and guilt.

“He said he was hungry and it was all I had in the car.”

“Dude, never ever feed him,” Alek warned.

“What? Why?”

“Because he is like a Gremlin,” Barry said helpfully before moving to the other end of the bar where a couple of guys were drinking. At first sight, they seemed just two guys drinking and chatting, but James had seen them around before, one of them worked on the precinct. The other was his boyfriend.

James felt sick all of a sudden. He needed out.

“So good to hear you talk about me guys, but I’m going to leave now,” James said as he stood up, trying to recover his jacket while Alek didn’t move at all. “Do you mind?”

“Don’t leave so soon,” Alek asked. “I just got here.”

“Dude I’m tired, I got scratched today,” James said showing the nail marks on the side of his neck. “And not even in a good way.”

“So?”

“Let me go before Barry comes back and makes me pay for the beer, pretty please?” James tried. With a sigh Alek allowed him to take his jacket.

“You owe me one.”

“Sure, Jan,” James said already walking towards the door. What a cop he was, not paying for his drinks.

Back outside, he cursed everything he came across to, the heat, the pavement, that car that almost hit him, that stupid dog trying to hump his leg and made him pause for thirty awkward seconds, the dog owner who found it hilarious, and so on during the ten minutes it took him to get to his apartment.

Never had James been as thankful for any invention as he was for the air conditioner at the moment he crossed the door. His apartment wasn’t an upper penthouse suite - or something like that, specific and funny by any means, but he had spent some good money on it. The door led to the living room, a broad space with dark hardwood floors and light gray walls. Two picture windows let the light in, and in the center of the room, a sectional couch faced a huge flat screen. To the right, a breakfast bar separated the living area from the renovated kitchen with granite counters.

At the other end of the room, a small corridor led to the master bedroom, the bath and what should be the second bedroom, but was now a well-sized study. James left his keys and badge on the table next door and proceeded towards his room. He left his gun inside the safe in his closet, undressed quickly and threw his sweat drenched clothes in the laundry basket. He took a long, revitalizing shower and decided to go out that night.

He could use some company.

Out of the shower and with a towel around his hips, he stopped in front of his closet. He was about to pick some underwear when his phone started ringing.

Still naked, James followed the sound to his phone, plugged to the wall, silently praying it wasn’t work. When he saw the ID he couldn’t tell if it wasn’t or not, so he answered.

“Knox,” he said tentatively.

“Wow, how formal,” joked Lance Coleman in the other end. It didn’t look like it was a work related call then. James released his breath slowly with that thought. “I was wondering if you were free tonight.”

“Lance, this is America, I’m always free,” James responded, failing to provide a coherent answer. The call had surprised him, and he still didn’t know if it was for good or not. It had been at least a month since Lance had called him for ‘non-official’ business.

The other detective and James had a long history of torrid encounters, but unfortunately for James, that was all it would ever be. Lance was as closeted as anyone could be, but that didn’t mean he just slept with James from time to time. Lance was pretty much doing every guy he could, and he made sure to tell James that every time they were together. James understood, he wasn’t enough. Not for Lance, or anybody else. Probably he would never be.

Suddenly James realized he wasn’t listening to Lance depictions of what was going to happen when James got to his apartment, but he could already imagine. He was going to bottom.

“So, are you coming?”

James wanted to say ‘not yet’ to that but instead answered seriously.

“Sure, will be there in twenty minutes,” he said, too quickly. On the one hand, it was a good idea, he had guaranteed sex with somebody he could trust not to out him. On the other hand, Lance always ended up making him feel miserable once the fun was over. It was a constant reminder that he wasn’t allowed to have anything more than sex. And that’s what Lance kept telling him, their nonprofessional relationship was based exclusively in their occasional hook-ups.

Sighing, James went back to his closet and picked simple clothes, he didn’t need to dress to impress anymore.

 

Just like he said, James arrived at Lance’s building in Upper Manhattan in about twenty minutes, although he needed ten more minutes to find a parking spot. Unlike James and Alek, Lance came from a family of politicians, which translated to money and luxury, and in that case, a penthouse in the Upper West Side. The building had a doorman who, James was sure, knew what he came for every time. He just hoped the guy earned enough not to feel like telling anyone about Lance’s visitors.

The elevator took him to the top floor, when the doors opened, there was Lance in his open doorway, waiting for him with two glasses of wine. Now that was new.

“Welcome Detective Knox,” Lance said offering the glass.

James took it and drank half of it in one gulp. 

“Thirsty, are we?”

“Do you know how hot it is outside?”

He avoided Lance's eye as he drained the glass.

“Do you have more?”

"Of course," said Lance watching him uncertainly. "But first, let's get comfortable in the living room, shall we?”

Lance started towards the open plan living area, bigger than half of James’ apartment. There was a ridiculously big tv hanging on one of the walls, faced by a couch that was probably too expensive for the things Lance and James had done on it in the past.

James took off his shoes while he walked, as well as his t-shirt.

“Why did you call me tonight?” he asked as he sat on the couch.

“I -”

Lance stopped mid-sentence when he laid- his eyes on James.

“Why are you already half naked?”

“You said ‘let’s get comfortable,' this is me comfortable. Where is my wine?”

“I’ll go get the bottle. And don’t take off anything else.” Lance left just to come back with the bottle a moment later. “Where were we?” Lance asked offering a new full glass.

“You were about to tell me why you called me tonight, after one month and a half,” James said dryly. He hoped it hadn’t sound too resentful. He didn’t want to look needy.

“Would you believe it if I told you it was because I missed you?” James laughed. “Hey, I have feelings, you know?”

“Oh, I don’t doubt it, you have feelings, but not for me.”

Well, if it hadn’t sound resentful before, he sure as hell did after that. He shouldn’t have gone out if he was in such a sullen mood.

“Think whatever you want Jamie, I have every intention to make it up to you for all that time,” Lance said in a different tone. That was it, the predatory eyes, James knew what it meant even before Lance kneeled on the floor in front of him. “What do you think?”

“Are you going to bottom? I did last time, it’s just fair that…”

“You like to be fucked Jamie, I know you do,” Lance said as he undid the zipper in James’ jeans. It was true he liked to bottom, the sex wasn’t his problem, it was how he felt after.

“Lance, I -” It was too late. Lance was already all over him, taking off his clothes and going down on him. He let the overly experienced detective take care of his erection, and before he could complain, Lance was getting him ready for more. “Hey, wait-” James managed to say when a playful finger came too close to his entrance.

“You want me to stop?” Lance asked, releasing him for a moment. “I’m pretty sure you are enjoying it,” he added with a mischievous smile at the same time his index finger entered James. It wasn’t something new, yet it made James tense. “Come on baby, let me take care of you, yes?”

“Don’t call me that,” James said, surrendering and getting comfortable on the couch. “Makes me feel like this is dirty dancing,” Lance stopped sucking again to chuckle but didn’t remove his finger.

“Don’t make me laugh if I have your dick in my mouth.”

Lance kept working him, and sooner rather than later, he was putting on a condom and pouring too much lube on it. It was going to be a mess to clean up later, as always, thought James. When did this become so wearisome? James didn’t expect romance or anything like that, but he was just lying on an expensive couch waiting to be fucked and wondering why it wasn’t appealing anymore. Was it ever? What a great moment to question the only relationship he ever had with another man.

“Hey, come back,” Lance said from above him.

“I’m right here.”

“You were not a second ago,” They looked at each other for a moment before Lance kneeled between James’ open legs and without any more warning, entered him with one slow slide. It had been a whole month since last time, so it took a moment to James to get used to it. “Can I move?” Lance asked, clearly in agony.

“Just-” James tried to say something but nothing came out. It still hurt a little when Lance started pulling out, just to go in again slowly. After a few more tentative thrusts, James moaned, and Lance started moving faster, making sounds on his own.

Just like any other time, sex was good. Lance hit the right spot again and again till James was a moaning mess, and when he was about to come, stopped.

“Turn around,” he demanded as he pulled out. James lay there, not moving, so Lance grabbed him by the hip and turned him around, making him kneel on the couch. James would have rather keep doing it face to face, but apparently, he didn’t have a say on the matter.

In no time, Lance was at it again, ramming into James merciless until he came with spasmodic moves, in a few hard thrust that almost pushed James out of the couch. Lance let himself fall over James, keeping him pinned there, unable to relieve his now painfully hard erection.

“That was awesome” Said Lance still breathless. He moved to lie by James instead of on top of him. “What? Are you sulking? Aw, you are just so cute,” He said helping James turn around again.

“I’m not cute,” James stated, maybe sulking. Lance laughed and then took James erection in his mouth again. It didn’t take long for James to come with a satisfying moan, coming undone under the other man.

“See? You are cute,” Lance said, crawling on top of him to speak directly to his ear. “Look at you, all messed up in my couch, covered in your own cum, you are a wet dream, Jamie.”

“Get me some more expensive wine and we can go on, you said you were making up for the whole month you didn’t call, so get ready, because I’m fucking you next.”

“Oh, but I had an idea,” Lance said with a wicked smile. James didn’t use to like Lance’s ideas. He couldn’t stand being tied, didn’t especially enjoy pain and wasn’t into those weird games Lance liked to play. “What if, instead of fucking me, you and I fuck a friend of mine who is on his way here?” James was sure Lance was expecting another kind of reaction from him and did his best to not look as torn apart as he was feeling.

“Cannot just be us?” He asked with an embarrassing little voice. “And he is on his way? You asked him to come before telling me about him?”

“It was a surprise! I know how you always refuse to bottom at first, so I thought that if you could fuck someone else-”

“You could fuck me? That’s how this works? You should have told me someone else was coming,” James said, standing up and looking for his clothes, he needed to get out of there.

“Don’t be like that, we are just having fun. He’s an acquaintance of mine, we can trust him,” Lance insisted.

“It’s not what I came for, Lance,” He was already half dressed, and thoroughly embarrassed. How could he be so stupid? And the worst part, he was letting Lance see how much all this had hurt him.

“What did you come for Jamie? You wanted to fuck me? You can if you stay.”

“Look-” James started, trying to figure out what to say to be able to leave with some dignity. Before he could say anything else, his cellphone rang in his pocket. For the first time ever, he wished it was work and rushed to answer. “Knox.”

“Good night detective,” It was Gray, the big bad angry Sergeant who never called unless he had bad news. “I hope I’m not disturbing you much. Actually, I couldn’t care less, we have a dead body,” A dead body never sounded better.

“Send me the address and I’ll be right there Sarge,” James answered looking at Lance, who has put on his briefs now.

“You are bailing.”

“It’s work.”

“You were bailing before the call, James,” Lance seemed hurt? What was about him today? First, all that manhandling, then the other guy and now he was upset James was leaving?

“You’ll have another piece of ass here soon enough, you’ll be ok,” He said finally, putting a hand on the other detective’s shoulder. James finished dressing and went back to the door ready to leave.

“This wasn’t what I have planned when I called you” Lance voiced behind him, maybe more to himself than for James to hear. “Maybe you can come back here when you’re done with the dead body?” James was shocked. Who was this guy and where was the Lance who was all business? There was that one time when Lance pretty much kicked him out less than thirty seconds after he came, so this was really strange coming from him.

“I’ll think about it,” Was all James said before he crossed the door. What a mess.

 

James abandoned the building still wanting to kick himself. He left in a very dramatic way that was so not his sassy style, and now Lance would think… something of him. He walked to his car still immersed in his thoughts, what was supposed to be a sexy meeting with Lance had become 20 minutes of sex on the couch and an early leave before he could even wash himself. Yeah, he was still stained with his own fluids. He just hoped nobody noticed the stains in his t-shirt.

He was visiting a crime scene, full of investigators whose jobs were to pay attention to every detail, what could go wrong?

When he arrived, he felt overly self-conscious about how he might be looking. He had sex hair, wrinkled clothes, and a cum stained t-shirt. And even with all that, it wouldn’t be the worst look he had when getting to a crime scene.

He got off the car and walked towards the crime scene band, where an NYPD officer let him cross. Sergeant Gray was already there, looking angry already. Or again. Or still. You never knew with him.

“Knox, where the hell were you? I called you more than half an hour ago,” He screamed.

Zach, who was already there, looked at James apparently happy to see him, someone to share the shouting with, he probably thought. “Sorry Sarge, I got stuck in traffic,” James lied.

“I’m going to ignore that shitty excuse. There is a dead girl, Melissa Taylor, 27. Doctor Sanders is already taking a look.”

James approached the doctor, who was crouched next to the body. Before he could say anything, the scene hit him. A young woman lied dead on the ground in the middle of a pool of her own blood. There were many wounds all over her body, and the heat didn’t help to keep the body in good conditions, so she looked even worse. The body had both arms by the side, and the legs wide open.

“I’ve counted already more than twenty-five stab wounds,” Doctor Sanders said, sensing James looking over him.

“Somebody didn’t like her much,” He said. “Hey Zach, you okay?” James asked when he saw how pale his partner was.

“The vegan guy must be so used to grass he got sick when he saw so much blood and flesh,” Sanders didn’t like Zach. Well, Sanders didn’t like anyone, but he sort of tolerated James just fine.

“Did he throw up?”

“You can indeed vomit a granola bar.”

“So, how she died?”

“Stabbed to dead, what do you think?”

“Was she raped? It looks like it,” James asked, walking around the body.

“I don’t think so, but cannot tell just now, and probably won’t. The new medical examiner will take over the case on Monday, so it won’t be my problem anymore.”

“Do you really want to retire?”

“Son, I’ve seen dead bodies on a daily basis for more than thirty years, and that wasn’t the worse part of this job, dealing with you was. Now get out, I can’t tell you anything more, and I don’t want you to contaminate my crime scene with whatever you got on your clothes.”

James turned around and walked away silently. He decided to show some interest in his partner’s wellbeing.

“Did you throw up? It’s okay if you did.”

“I didn’t expect something like that. Who does something like that?”

“Someone with a knife, motive, and opportunity?”

“You are the worst, you know? That girl had a family, and someone just killed her like that. It’s awful. How can you just, walk around like nothing happened?” Zach was severely affected. James didn’t think he was too young, they must be around the same age, but Zach was so green sometimes. James had seen too much dead back in Afghanistan, so this was a walk in the park when you had seen someone literally explode in front of you.

“Look, I know it can be a shock, but we have work to do, and we’ll catch the bastard who did that,” he said pointing the girl. “That’s our job, so put on you big boy pants and let’s ask some questions.”

As it would be expected, nobody saw or heard a thing. The guy who had found the body was drunk as hell, and it took him 5 minutes to realize the girl was dead.

Around midnight the CSI guys had all they needed, and people started leaving. James remembered then Lance’s words. Did he want to come back? Would Lance be waiting? Well, it was his house, so he’ll be there for sure.

“Hey, would you like to have some ice cream?” Zach said, interrupting his thoughts. The guy still looked pale, and probably needed a friend or someone who eat dairy free- gluten free- vegan ice cream with.

“Sure. Do you think they’ll have bacon ice cream?” James asked. Zach shook his head and started walking toward the cars.

“Not where I’m taking you.”

“Of course.”

“So, tell me, is that semen on your t-shirt?”

“Don’t you have some whales to save? Or some fur coats to ruin with paint? Don’t mind my stained t-shirt.”

“But is it or is it not semen?”

“Lick it and find out.”

“You wish.” Well, maybe some other time, James thought.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
>  I never thought I'll be sharing this with anyone but with the person who edited the first few pages of the story, but since there was no one to share this with anymore, I thought I could give this a shot and share with anyone willing to read.  
> I'm looking for beta readers to help me with all the grammar mistakes and typos I'm sure you'll find thru the story, sorreeh, English is not my first language, but hey, I'm trying.  
> If you spot typos and stuff, feel free to let me know.  
> Also, thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

First days at a new job always sucked, even more, when you had just moved to another city. Ethan wasn’t all that worried though, he was back home, and although he had just arrived from Washington DC, New York was his home, his whole family was there, and now his job was there too.

He entered the federal building that held the FBI office in New York, and as usual for the federal agency, it was impressive.

He had been assigned to an infamous team, as far as he knew. When he requested coming back to New York, the only available position for him was in the Behavior Analysis Unit, which was great since Ethan was an experienced profiler. Which wasn’t that great was the fact that there were openings in a unit like that. BAUs were the kind of team everybody wanted to work in, so the fact that there was a spot available wasn’t promising. This group was well known for being a bunch of weird people led by a vindictive woman. There was all kind of stories about them, and especially about Lena Ellis, the team leader. Some said she killed her boyfriend when he cheated on her, and she was good enough to cover the murder and got away with it. Others said Lena wasn’t her real name, and she actually was an ex-con who had something on the FBI. None of those stories sounded believable to Ethan, but they made him a little nervous about meeting his new boss.

When he finally reached the twentieth floor, he got out of the full elevator, glad to be able to enjoy his personal space again, and went looking for Agent Ellis office. He used to work in the same department, back in DC, but since he was a profiler, he usually worked with other teams as well.

He looked around the desks, reading the names of the agents, looking for Ellis, but he doubted she had a just a desk, she probably had her own office.

“Hey, can I help you?” Ethan turned around and saw a little Asian woman with short blue highlighted hair, and casual clothes looking at him.

“I was looking for Agent Ellis. Do you know where can I find her?”

“Yeah. But who are you? Oh wait, are you the new guy?”

“I am. I’m Ethan Holiday, and you are?” He asked offering his hand. She took it and introduced herself.

“I’m Nyoko Willis. You should know, they are gonna give you shit, you look like some poster boy with that suit and your hair and all.”

“What am I supposed to look like? I’m a federal agent,” He said confused.

“We are the renegades of this field office, you’ll see why soon enough. Come this way, I’ll take you to Ellis.”

 

Ethan followed Nyoko through a corridor that led to another area with fewer desks. Actually, there were only four. There where someone in the office at the end of the room, by the voices, it must be three people, two men, one woman.

“Hey, boss? The new guy is here,” Nyoko shouted from the where they stood on the other side of the room. Someone, the woman in the office, picked her head from the door. She looked pretty young to be a team leader, had dark brown hair collected in a messy ponytail and her face gave the impression that she was dangerous, but Ethan couldn’t point what gave him that feeling.

“Oh, you are the DC Boy Scout? I’m Lena, welcome to the team,” She said leaving the office and walking to him to shake his hand. “You’ve already meet Nyoko, believe or not, she’s our computer expert. Who would have guessed right? Asian girl good with computers. Don’t let the short hair fool you, she’s straight. Most of the time.”

“Boss, just introduce the rest of the team, for fuck sake,” Nyoko asked.

“Sure, I’m sorry. I’m socially awkward, that’s why they gave me my own team. I cannot work with people with a stick up their asses. Well, these two gentlemen are Jesse McAdams, and the other guy is Javi Iglesias.”

The two guys from the office were already out. McAdams looked pretty much like a cowboy but without the hat, tanned skin, short brown hair, and he spoke with a thick Texas accent. As for Iglesias, he was a very good-looking guy, Hispanic features and under that Henley shirt, there must be a killing body.

Ethan had to stop that thought right there. That was the last thing he needed. There was no use in looking at hot guys who would choose their wives in the end. He discarded the thoughts and came back to the conversation. He shook hands with both men, and Lena asked them all to join her in the conference room. It was a room probably too big for such a small team, but apparently, it was for their exclusive use.

“Okay, Ethan, I’ll let you know how this works. We receive a ton of cases every day that may or may not be actually of our concern. We look into them and decide which ones have priority. For example, Jesse, pick a case,” Lena ordered. Jesse, with his tablet, started scrolling.

“This one, ‘man dies in mysterious circumstances, his genitals were removed’” He read.

“He probably raped someone, and it was about revenge, local police can handle that,” Lena answered. Ethan was stunned.

“We just wrapped up a big case with some racial issues and stuff, so we are not busy right now,” Iglesias explained, seeing Ethan’s face.

“Holiday, you are part of the team now,” Lena started, discarding the tablet she had in her hands. “So, tell us, why are you here? Why did you leave D.C?”

“Did you shot your partner? That’s why Iglesias is here,” McAdams offered like it was the typical thing to say.

“I didn’t shoot anyone,” Ethan said. Who the hell were these freaks?

“Come on, tell us, what’s your crime?” Lena insisted.

“I don’t-“ Ethan tried. “I was sent from-“

“No, come on Holiday. We are here because we fucked up, he shot his partner, she hacked the NSA people, I hit a judge, what did you do?” Again McAdams spoke about it like it was nothing.

“I did nothing.”

“Don't buy it. You killed someone?” This time it was Iglesias the one asking.

“No!”

“I did,” Lena said with a creepy smile. “Oh, you are a fucker? Aw, those are the worst, the most boring.” She pouted.

“A fucker?” He asked, confused.

“Yeah you fucked someone, you are like a Diet Coke in a red bull machine. Too pure. You’re not gonna last here kid,” said MacCree. So this was what it was all about? Ethan thought. He had gone through a living hell back in D.C and had to move back to New York after working his ass off in the D.C, just because he couldn’t not think with his dick for two minutes. He was going to stay in New York and was going to make the D.C office realize the mistake they have made letting him go.

“What if I slept with a superior, who happened not to only be married, but also was a man?” He said satisfied with his teammate’s faces.

“You are my hero,” Nyoko said.

“Welcome to the team Holiday,” Lena said with a less scary smile.

 

After a shocking first impression, Ethan discovered the team was actually fully efficient in their job. Nyoko was a real genius, and McAdams and Iglesias, even though they fought like an old married couple, got things done. Lena was a different story. She walked around the office like she owned the place, and nobody dared to make any comments about her or her team. She did respond to their superiors to some extent, but since they got results, they didn't have anything to hold against the team most of the time. The first days passed fast since Ethan was getting accustomed to the team dynamics, and by the weekend he already felt a part of it. The bureaucratic part of the job was pretty much the same there and in D.C, so it wasn’t a problem for him, he was good and efficient at it, something all his teammates valued more than he expected.

The infamous team, apparently that was an actual thing, they got called that, didn’t get a new case to focus on till Monday. They were checking the cases who had applied for federal assistance when Lena stormed into the room with a folder.

“This is our new case,” she said, dropping the folder dramatically on the table. Ethan reached and opened it. There were a few shocking pictures of a dead woman, and some other documents attached.

“Why is this case so special? Seems like a homicide,” Ethan said.

“Read the forensic report,” Lena asked him.

“Thirty-nine stab wounds?” Well, it was surprising, Ethan had to admit.

“We are taking over the case,” Lena sentenced.

“Boss,” Iglesias started, “It’s not him, it’s not the Butcher.” Ethan suddenly remembered about that. It was an old case, about five or six years ago. A man brutally killed young women in the tristate area for months before the police and the FBI could take a hold on him. The press had said he resisted and he ended up being shot. Now that he thought of it, it might have been Lena’s case.

“Might be a copycat, and if it is, it’s our case, we are taking over, so get your asses off your chairs and let’s go to the police station. Holiday, get ready for your first rodeo.”

“Hey, that’s my phrase. You are not even from Texas, boss,” McAdams complained, making Iglesias laugh.

“Nyoko, get everything the cops have on the case and send it. Maybe we can get the autopsy results before the cops do.”

“Wouldn’t it bother the police if we take the case from them? I mean, every time I’ve been in this situation, the cops were pissed off.”

“It’s ok Holiday, we are not making friends, we are doing our job, now let’s go.” Lena left the room by herself.

“Don’t worry kid, she gets pretty worked up when something hits too close to home, and this sort of killings are too similar to the ones back then. You probably remember the case.” Iglesias told him.

“I do. She was in charge?”

“It was her first big case, and it didn’t go that well. They killed the guy who was allegedly the murderer, but most of the evidence was circumstantial. She feels guilty, because if that guy wasn’t the killer, the families of the victims didn’t get justice, and what’s worse, if it happens again, it’s on her.”

“It’s not on her, she wouldn’t be the one committing the crimes, she cannot take that guilt.”

“I almost forgot the boy is a shrink,” McAdams said. “Let’s go before she comes back for us.”

 

***

 

It wasn’t even daylight outside when an earthquake shook James’ bed.

“Good morning princess, ready for today’s run?” Alek asked in an awfully enthusiastic way. Why in the world had James thought it was a good idea to give Alek a key of his apartment? Alek didn’t only come to his place like a hurricane to wake him up, he sneaked in James’ place to steal food or whatever he needed.

James moved trying to ignore his friend, who took him by the foot and pulled him out of bed until James fell with a loud noise.

“Fuck you, Alek,” He mumbled. “Dude it’s too early for this. Even more so, it’s fucking Monday.”

“Come on Jamie, every day the same shit, you’re always glad when we are out running. It’s good, healthy, and also I have a surprise today.”

“This is a joke, and we are not really going?”

“No, bitch. Your friend Zach is joining today! Isn’t it great?”

“If there ever was a minimal chance I went to this masochist morning run, it died right after that.” James stood up, decided to go back to bed, but Alek threw himself at James, and they both landed on the floor.

“Come on. You promised. We are best friends, and that means we are supposed to spend time together.”

“Cannot we do that in a bar getting drunk like normal people? And by the way, if you haven’t noticed, I’m almost naked, and your running shorts are too short for you to be on top of me.”

“Nothing to worry here, no weird vibes, right?” He wished he could just say ‘Not weird vibes, just gay vibes, and this hard-on has everything to do with you on top of me, ’ but he couldn’t, so he nodded and woke up. Having lost this battle, he dressed up in his running gear and followed Alek outside.

“So how come you and Zach are best friends now? Do you braid each other’s hair? Share secrets?" James asked, warming up in the street, in front of their building.

“We laughed a lot the other night at the bar after you left. He’s a nice guy, and I asked him to join us.”

“We had a call that night, he didn’t mention anything, but then again he had just puked after seeing the corpse,” James said thinking about the case. After checking the scene, there hadn’t been any more work done. Doctor Sanders had officially left, so the autopsy had been delayed until Monday. On Saturday they talked to the victim’s relatives, same old story, no enemies, everybody loved her and nobody could believe it. James was waiting patiently for the day someone told them something bad about a victim, just for a change.

“Eh, come back from Wonderland, Alice. Your partner is waiting for us.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

 

They had the luck to be able to afford to live in front of a park, in one of those typical buildings with red bricks and emergency stairs, so they only needed to cross the street and start running. According to Alek, Zach was waiting for them in the park, in one of the small squares. James and Alek trotted to the place, and it was then when James spotted his partner. He looked almost normal in his running gear. It was all fancy and hipster-ish somehow, nothing to do with James old t-shirt and some running shorts Alek had given him for his birthday, something he hadn’t forgiven yer. Zach’s look wasn’t that bad until you saw his shoes.

“Aw come on, Zachary, what the fuck are those things?” James asked pointing his partner’s feet.

“Running shoes,” Zach explained. He was wearing some sort of shoes with toes.

“They have… toes. They are the ugliest thing I’ve seen all morning, and I was woken up by this guy,” James pointed Alek, who was just laughing in silence.

“Numerous studies show running barefoot is a lot better than-“

“Then take that aberration off your feet and run barefoot.”

“They’re minimalist running shoes, they are very popular in-“

“In Williamsburg for sure. Let’s run and get this morning done with,” James said starting running. “God, I hope nobody sees me with you. I have a reputation to maintain in the hood,” This time he did hear Alek’s laugh. The Hawaiian was laughing raucously and trying to run at the same time, while Zach was just smiling and keeping the pace James was setting.

Half way through the few laps they were doing, Alek called James.

“Bro, two o’clock,” his friend told him.

James looked in that direction to spot a redhead running in tights and a ponytail bouncing with each step. She was fairly hot, even though he was only seeing the back of the girl.

“I see what you mean,” Zach said suddenly appearing next to James.

“So, let’s make a sprint and see the front side as well?” Alek suggested. James rolled his eyes. It wasn’t that he wasn’t interested, he liked girls just fine, but he liked men a lot better. Alek surpassed the girl first, taking a good look at the poor girl, who seemed oblivious. Zach followed and lastly, James decided to reach his running mates but wasn’t going to bother checking the girl, it was too embarrassing.

“I was wondering if you’d come to look too,” The girl said when James was by her side.

“Excuse me?” He said, stupidly.

“You and your friends. Looking at me? Have you heard of subtly?”

“I’m so sorry. They are like overgrown teenagers. They can’t behave properly in front of a pretty girl,” And fuck him if that didn’t sound like flirting. “I have to go. I’m sorry about those jerks again,” he insisted and then left her behind to join the mentioned jerks.

“Dude, can you leave something for us?” Alek protested.

“I was apologizing. She totally caught us looking.”

“No way. She did? No way to score anymore now.”

“Does she live around?” Zach asked, looking at the girl, who was running in the opposite direction.

“I don’t know, I guess she does, but I’ve never seen her before. Does she sound familiar?” James asked Alek.

“Not at all. I wouldn’t forget a redhead.”

“Let’s have some breakfast guys, I know the perfect place,” Zach changed the topic suddenly. Probably the run made him hungry.

“Is it close? How do you even know places around here?”

“Dude, I live in the apartment building next to yours.” James was stunned to hear that.

“Since when?”

“Jamie, he’s been living there for more than a year. You really didn’t know?” Alek intervened.

“Yeah, I did know, this is me knowing it.” Sometimes he wondered how could he be good at his job when he paid so little attention to details.

 

Like Zach has said, he knew a place, and since Alek was a sunshine of a guy, he decided to give the vegan, no dairy, gluten free place a chance. James wanted real coffee with real milk in a cup made out of bacon and a couple of eggs and some more bacon on top. Instead, he had some kind of bagel with some kind of fake cream inside. The worst part though was that he actually liked the place and the food, but he’ll never admit that.

Back at his place and alone, he showered and got ready for work. He dressed up in a dark gray suit and got ready to leave, which meant he had breakfast again and took his badge, gun, and keys. Alek was waiting for him outside as always, wearing his black fatigues. James missed the good old days when wore fatigues and spent half the day covered in sand, no shirts and ties.

“Do I see you in black and white?” Alek asked. “Why won’t you wear anything but black and white?”

“The suit is gray,” James pointed out.

“Same difference. There are other colors, you know.”

“I have a navy suit.”

“You are impossible. I thought we could wait for Zach, you know, since we are friendly and all now.”

“For a whole year we didn’t walk with him to work. That’s not changing now.”

James started walking, and Alek had to run a little to catch him.

“Dude, you have been bitter since Friday, everything alright?” James couldn’t bear when Alek was worried because he couldn’t just tell him what the problem was. He was in a mood because Friday night was a mess with Lance, and he couldn’t tell his best friend about it and get some comfort.

“Nah, I’m fine, just tired. The new case looks bad.”

“The girl of the thousand stabs?”

“Yeah, that one. The new medical examiner starts today, she’ll have to deal with the worst first case possible.”

“It could be worst. Like ‘half eaten by a shark’ dead body, or ‘zombie resurrected’ dead body,” Alek said.

“Don’t forget ‘Frankenstein Monster’ dead body, I mean, imagine the corpse on your table is actually made of twenty different people.”

“That would be a pain in the ass. If I ever become a serial killer, I’ll do that.” Alek answered thoughtfully.

“Just don’t become a serial killer, I don’t want to have to go visit you in prison.”

“Like you would ever catch me.”

“If a corpse made of several corpses ever turns up in this state, you’ll be my prime suspect.”

“Challenge accepted.”

 

They got to the Station and took their separate ways. Alek worked in the bomb disposal unit, full of freaks, according to James. Every man and woman in that team loved to see things blowing up, and they all could make explosives from scratch. James’ mom still was mad at Alek for teaching James’ nephew to make a bomb out of bleach. Apparently, the kid blew up the school lab.

When he got out of the elevator on his floor, he saw everybody gathered around the captain in the main room. He approached Zach, who somehow got there before him.

“What’s all this fuss for?”

 “Captain is going to tell us something, I think.”

“Captain's daughter is getting married,” Braverman told them, joining them. She was shorter than them, but it wasn’t an inconvenient for her to be intimidating. She used to keep her blond hair in a tight ponytail, wore suits, kicked ass and in her free time, was a mother of two children and some lucky guy’s wife.

“And who is the lucky-“

The Captain was talking with such a big smile on his face, it was disturbing. James always saw the captain like a grumpy guy who barked orders to everyone around. Seen the old man smile was really freaking him out. But it got a lot worst when he introduced his future son in law. “You all know my little girl, Kathy,” the old man said introducing his daughter. That was only the first surprise, Kathy was the woman they have met in the park that morning. She was standing there, next to his father obviously embarrassed for all the attention. “She’s been working with the DA for a few years now, and some time ago she met a good man in this unit, and now, they are getting married,” Next to James, Sergeant Gray rolled his eyes, making him laugh, as quietly as possible. “Lance, son, come here and show everybody the huge rock you bought for my daughter.”

Everybody started applauding and cheering up Lance, who walked towards the captain and Kathy. Everybody but James who was so fucking stunned that he seemed frozen in time. Had the captain just said Lance had bought a ring for his daughter? As in an engagement ring? Was all this a joke? James needed to react before somebody saw him look at the happy couple with panic.

“Wow, I didn’t see that coming,” Zach said beside him, making him react finally. “I knew there were rumors but didn’t expect them to marry this soon.”

“We all know who’s going to be the new Lieutenant after the gray fox retires,” Sarge said with a sardonic smile.

“If you are not the next lieutenant, I’m leaving this precinct,” Braverman said, completely serious.

“The guy is marrying the captain's daughter, for fuck sake. He’s gonna go far now,” Sarge said, looking bothered now.

“She’s marrying him because he’s rich. And he is marrying her because she’s someone’s daughter. They’ll have a few blond kids and will be Manhattan’s golden couple. What do you say, Knox?”

“I think this is all fucked up,” James said without emotion. That was the sentence he said every time he got stuck in something. “I need to-” He didn’t bother to end the sentence before leaving the room. He felt sick. He thought he was going to throw up, so he headed for the restrooms. He wasn’t really looking, or rather seeing, where he was walking when he bumped into someone.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” the other person said. James had just walked into an Indian girl, with huge glasses and a very cute accent. She looked innocent and beautiful, big brown eyes and long black curly hair she kept in a ponytail. She was looking at him, worried. “Are you alright? You look a bit pale.”

“I’m perfectly fine. Thanks,” James said starting towards the men's room again.

“I’m Maya Kulkarni, I’m the new medical examiner, and I’m a bit lost-” she said, following him, but James didn’t hear the rest, instead ran to reach the restroom in time to throw up.

Once he was done heaving, he sat on the floor.

“I would say you are ill.” Startled, James looked up to see the woman again, looking at him.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“You are sick, I’m a doctor.”

“For dead people.” James almost screamed. He was losing it. He was going to have a panic attack and the only help he would have was this crazy woman who had followed and watched him throw up.

“Listen to me, you are about to suffer a nervous breakdown. It will take three minutes to your adrenal glands to fill your body with adrenaline, but it also takes three minutes to stop the reaction. If you stop panicking now, in three minutes it’ll be over,” Her voice was soothing, and she was calm as fuck, even though James was sitting on the floor about to freak out. “Now relax and-“

“I’m having a fucking panic attack. Don’t you fucking tell me to relax, woman.”

“Take slow, deep, complete breaths. Like this,” She said, before doing so. The girl was insane doing yoga exercises in the middle of a crisis. James tried anyway. “Well done. Now say stop to yourself, scream it inside of your head, tell your body to stop the-“

“Cannot I yell at you? It would be easier.”

“I’m not causing this reaction, your mind is. Now keep breathing, tell your mind to stop.”

“This is ridiculous.” But again, James did as she told him.

“You’ve been through this situation before, and you can get through it again, say it.”

“I’ve been through this before, I can get through it again,” James said mumbling. His heart was beating fast, he was trembling, and a complete stranger was now kneeling next to him in the men’s restroom telling him, step by step, how to overcome a panic attack. She was good, and she was probably the only reason he wasn’t hyperventilating.

“You are doing great. Keep breathing, repeat your mantra,” What mantra? What the hell? James thought. “Now accept your feelings. Accept those feelings that made you feel like this, and keep breathing.”

Sooner rather than later, and probably in three minutes as she had said, he was fine again. His heart rate was going back to normal, and he wasn’t shaking anymore.

“Better now?” She asked putting her small hand on his shoulder.

“Yes. Thanks. You are not half bad for being a doctor for dead people.”

“Thanks. You get those often? The panic attacks, I mean.”

“Not really.” She was still in the same position, waiting for a better answer. “Look, Doc, I’m not a-“

“Hey, Knox. You here?” Zach asked entering the restrooms. “Oh,” he said when he saw him on the floor with the doctor so close. “OH,” he freaked out when he spared at her a second look.

“Hi! I’m the new medical examiner. Is this your partner?” She asked.

“Yeah, he is. Zachary and I are from Homicide. I’m James, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you, “She said standing, “I have to go. I’m supposed to be meeting the captain now. I guess I’ll see you around.”

“Dude, who was that?” Zach asked with a brief blush.

“The new medical examiner,” He got up and went to wash her hands.

“Yeah, I heard that part. How come you were here hiding with her?”

“I wasn’t-” It wasn’t worth it to try and explain. Even worst, knowing Zach, he’d probably worry about the panic attack and would ask why it happened, and now that he was friends with Alek he might tell him. James didn’t need that. “I was feeling sick from your vegan breakfast and came to vomit. She is a doctor, so she came to… assist me.” James left the restroom and went back to his desk. The room was now half empty so people must have gone back to work.

“Do you like her? I mean, she seemed very nice, and now you were alone in there.”

“I just met her Zachary,” James said, trying to go back to their normal dynamics. “If you like her, she’s all yours. I’d pick Captains daughter though,” He added.

“Ha! I always knew you had a thing for redheads.”

“That statement excludes you,” James pointed him. “Now tell me, what did I miss?”

“Not much, everybody congratulated Lance, you should go too. Oh, and we are all invited to the bachelor party. The guys want to drag him to a strip club. Do you like strip clubs?”

“You know Zachary, I love the sound you make when you shut up, so please.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

James felt like hitting his head against the desk.

“Knox, Willows, Braverman and Coleman. My office, now.” The lieutenant yelled from the door.

“What now?” James asked to no one.

The four detectives headed to the office, where the Lieutenant and Sergeant Gray were waiting.

“Guys, the FBI has contacted us, they are interested in your case,” Lieutenant Flannegan said.

“Which case?” Lance asked. Technically the case was assigned to James and Zach, so Lance and Juliet didn’t need to be there. “The girl with the thousand stabs?”

“It wasn’t a thousand. And yes, that one. That crazy bitch from the FBI thinks the Butcher strikes again every time a woman dies in the state,” Flannegan had stopped pretending to be in good terms with the FBI long time ago, and since the Butcher’s case it was even worse or so had James heard.

“Isn’t the butcher case closed? The guy was killed, right?” Asked Zach.

“That’s right. But as I said, Agent Ellis is crazy, the girl never got over that case and keep chasing ghosts.”

“Why are we here lieutenant? I thought this was Knox’s case,” Juliet wanted to know.

“Technically, you two are working with Knox and Willows, for support. For them and the FBI, that is. Cooperate and collaborate with the feds, but don’t let them get comfortable. And please, Knox, don’t start a brawl this time. I appreciated it, but just don’t do it again.” For some reason, after saying that, he looked at Juliet, which meant she had to make sure they all got along.

“Great, I’m the nanny again.”

“So, since we are on the case now, what we know so far?” Lance asked all business. Every time he spoke, James blood boiled. He wanted to punch him or strangle him or just ask him what the fuck was going on. He made a massive effort to stop those thoughts right away, he couldn’t afford another meltdown. He breathed in and out like the doctor had told him. “Knox? You okay?” Of course, he had to notice James doing breathing exercises in the middle of the office.

“Yeah. Just… mentally preparing for working with feds again.” He lied. After lying for so long, he could come up with something in almost any situation.

“Alright guys,” Gray started, “The new medical examiner is going to perform the autopsy now, we asked her not to wait for the feds. They’ll show up any time now, and they don’t share, so we need any additional info as soon as possible. Aside from that, we’ll work with what we have for now..”

They all followed him to one of the conference rooms and picked seats. The room had a large table and a dozen chairs. James intended to sit as far from Lance as physically possible in the room, but of course, Lance sat right beside him. And touched his thigh while looking at him concerned, he was probably the only person in the room who knew him well enough to know something was off. Deep breaths, James reminded himself.

They started going through the files they had, which were not much. What they knew so far was that the victim name was Melissa Taylor, she was 27, she had no enemies, and was single at the moment of her death. They had nothing on the ex-boyfriend, coworkers, nor relatives. Every single person questioned said she was a great girl and everybody loved her, which obviously was not true because she was dead now, James thought.

She had been stabbed to dead, and her body was found in Hell’s Kitchen, although the victim had no business there, she didn’t live close, hadn’t friends there, and her job was in Upper Manhattan as well. Nobody knew what could have bought her to the south of the island. And finally, and as useless as the rest, her body was discovered by some drunk guy who didn’t see anyone or anything. Basically, they had nothing.

Lance and Juliet caught up very quickly since there was not much information to start with, so they started discussing theories.

“It’s got to be a cult,” Lance said. “Too many wounds, sounds ritualistic, doesn’t it?”

“It’s a possibility,” Juliet admitted.

“Or it might be a copycat,” proposed James. He didn’t really think this was a simple crime. Nobody stabs someone thirty times just because. Most of the time, homicides were the result of circumstances and opportunity, but this was different. Also, he just wanted to contradict whatever Lance said.

“Copycat of the Butcher?” Zach asked. “Maybe the feds are right to suspect. Do we have files on that? Maybe there was a victim with this same MO.”

“There was not,” Sarge interrupted. “Those girls were all cut open, there was no stabbing, but some of the bodies were so mutilated it was hard to tell.”

“You were in the task force, Sarge?” Zach asked. It was likely, Flannegan and Sergeant Gray had been together in the force for decades. If Flannegan had led that investigation, Gray had been there for sure.

“I was. And let me tell you guys, you don’t want this to be another high profile case. I hope Ellis is in the wrong this time.”

They remained silent for a few moments, thinking about what Gray had said. A high-profile case could make you famous and relevant but also end your career. Or make you insane like Agent Ellis. If the press started making a big deal out of it, they would be in trouble. Everybody was probably thinking about how famous they would be and what would be the title for their book about the serial killer. Everyone but James. He still had Lance’s hand on his thigh and was doing his best to keep his mind busy, so he went back to the murder.

“I don’t think it was an ordinary murder,” James said breaking the silence and looking at the pictures. “You’d need time and planning to stab someone so many times. The pieces of evidence in the scene show no sign of the body being moved, so I think the killer knew when and where to find her.”

“But why would she be there?” Zach asked, “She had no business there, we know that.”

“Maybe somebody asked her to go there, maybe the killer staged it?” James tried. Lance patted his leg under the table before talking.

“I insist. This looks ritualistic. We should search for cults in the area. And also check out moon cycles and stuff. Was it a full moon that night?” James wanted to think his theory was stupid, but it wasn’t, not completely, it actually fit with James assumptions. The short time they were partnered was only good because they had had sex on a daily basis thanks to having an excuse to get out of the office together, but that aside, they argued all the time and couldn’t agree on almost anything. They even fought about the brand of the condoms to use or where to have lunch.

And still, it was a pity because they sort of worked well in bed, which was the closest James had been to a relationship with another man. But excluding that, they had nothing in common. Lance was born in privilege, and it showed, while James had worked his ass off since he was eighteen and joined the Marine Corps. Lance probably went to college and rebelled against his parents, and instead of becoming a politician or inheriting daddy’s company he became a cop.

Whatever, James thought. He had Zach now. Big, red, soft-hearted Zach. He liked Zach because Zach liked everyone, even him. Zach was patient with him and listened to everything he said. For some reason James couldn’t fathom, Zach thought he was a genius and an expert in crime-solving. He liked that someone thought he was so good at something. Not that he would ever admit any of that, but he liked it.

Soon enough, interrupting whatever Lance was discussing with Juliet, Gray’s phone rang, and the Sergeant told them that the FBI had arrived at the station and that the ME was already busy with the autopsy, so they would be meeting her now. The FBI could wait as far as Sarge was concerned.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special little thanks to the always wonderful Dionys to take a bit of her time to make sure one of the paragraphs wasn't utter shit.  
> And also thanks to whoever reading, it is greatly appreciated.


	3. Chapter 3

Ethan had learned a few things about the dynamics of the team during that first week, for example, Iglesias always was the driver. He was the member of the team with more traffic accident reports, and more damage caused to official vehicles, so it didn’t make much sense, but he had already given up on trying to understand everything, so he was all right with it.

Lena always took the passenger seat, and the back seats were now his and McAdams’s. During the short drive to the police station, Ethan re-read the brief report and asked a few questions about the Butcher’s case. According to Lena, there were a few victims not included in the main file, there was not a clear connection, but she believed those murders were committed by the same man who would be known as the Butcher, years before the canonical victims.

“Some of those women were stabbed to death, just like this. It could be starting again, and this might mean those victims were his as well. The Butcher I mean.” Lena said, with a sigh.

“Boss, even if it has something to do with it, it would be an imitator, the guy is dead.”

“Nobody outside the case knew about those previous victims, it’s not even in those stupid books about it. Thank god that snake of a reported didn’t get that information.” Ethan has also learned Lena had a very long blacklist that included politicians, reporters, coworkers, and some cops. The mentioned reporter was probably Michaela Eddgington, who followed the whole case, claimed to have been assaulted by the Butcher himself and had also written a book about it all, of course.

“That’s because she couldn’t sleep with you. Half of her book was written thanks to that.” Iglesias explained to Ethan. “The chick slept with every man involved in the case.”

“Her book was a best seller, so I guess it paid off.” Ethan voiced.

“Some of those men were good agents, sadly they thought with their dicks and now are doing desk duty in some shitty city in Montana or something like that,” Lena added. Iglesias stopped the car, and all of them got out of the car. Iglesias had parked in a place reserved for police vehicles, but apparently, it wasn’t important enough for them to care.

“Let’s go directly to the lab, these bastards have probably started without us,” Lena ordered, pushing the elevator button.

As soon as they were in the forensic lab, Lena’s words proved to be true. A young Indian woman attired in black scrubs was explaining something to a small group while signaling the body on the operation table.

“Gentlemen, starting without us?” Lena asked with one of her mischievous smiles, entering the room without knocking.

“Agent Ellis, we are in a hurry here, we had no time to-” It was the big scary Afro-American guy, slightly older than the others, the one who spoke. Ethan took a moment to scan the cops in the room. There was the big guy, probably the sergeant in charge. With him, there were two other men, all three dressing suits, but nothing as fancy as the FBI style.

“Bullshit, Gray. We are taking over the case. Doctor Kulkarni, what can you tell us?” Lena asked directly to the medical examiner, who was clearly an acquaintance.

“Well, hello to you too Agent Ellis. Agent McAdams, Iglesias. I was telling my coworkers that, as the preliminary report done by Doctor Sanders showed, the victim was stabbed thirty-nine times.”

“We knew that already,” Lena said, impatiently.

“Ellis, we have to work together, in this case, let’s be civil, shall we?” Again, the sergeant was the one speaking. “Let me introduce my team,” he proposed.

His team looked too tired to be still that early in the morning, Ethan thought. Sometimes he couldn’t help analyzing the people around him, and it was a good training anyway. The Sergeant introduced the red haired guy with a hipster-ish beard as Detective Willows. He was quite pale and looked sick. He probably was new in the homicide division and wasn’t’ accustomed to dead bodies in such a bad shape. He was probably the younger of them.

The other guy, detective Knox, with green tormented eyes and dark blond hair, was, by all means, handsome. In other circumstances, it would have been tempting to try and figure out what hid under all those layers of faked indifference. Ethan smiled to himself reminding that ever since he had got to New York, Karma had been a bitch as usual and had thrown way too many hot guys he couldn't or shouldn't have on his way.

Lena introduced them to the team of detectives and finally allowed the doctor to go on.

“The time of the death was between ten and midnight. As I said, there were a total of thirty-nine stab wounds, twenty-one of them reached vital organs.” Doctor Kulkarni explained, pointing the wounds along the body. “There were five to the left hung, two to the right one, one to the heart, five to the liver, two more on the spleen-”

“Zach, get out,” Detective Knox said suddenly, interrupting the doctor. The other detective left the room immediately, looking even sicker than before, and no one said a word about it. As the doctor resumed her report, Ethan got stuck looking at the detective again. Now that he paid more attention, the guy looked tense, like he was making an effort to remain still. The neck of his shirt and his tie were slightly undone, and his hair looked already messy. Ethan shook his head and tried to pay attention to the doctor again.

“And finally six more to the stomach. The killer seemed focused on the breasts, the belly, and the groin area.”

“Right handed?” Detective Knox asked, looking at the body and tilting his head like he was trying to see it from a better angle.

“That’s right detective.”

“That discards the Butcher, does it, Agent Ellis?” Knox asked. The guy was trouble, Ethan realized.

“Oh, does it? The Butcher’s killings were committed by a left-handed perpetrator, that’s true, but since this might be the work of an imitator, we are still taking over.” Lena said in the same sassy tone the detective has just used.

“Knox,” Sergeant Gray said before the detective could answer.

“If you are done with that, I’ll go on. The wounds were probably inflicted with an ordinary knife, maybe a razor knife. Well, all the wounds but one actually. This one in the sternum,” the doctor pointed an incision that indeed looked different than the others, “This was caused by a different kind of knife, something bigger.”

“What kind of knife? A hunting knife? A butcher’s knife?” McAdams asked.

“More like a dagger. I found particles in most of the wounds, I hope that leads us to the weapons. There weren’t hair or fibers on the body, no marks, no signs of a fight. We are waiting for the results of the toxicology test, so for now, that’s all I can tell you.

“Any indication of the victim being drugged?” Lena asked, without raising her eyes from the body.

“I didn’t find anything yet, there are no syringe marks nor traces of other chemicals.”

“So she probably was conscious during the…stabbing?” Ethan asked.

“Most likely, yes. She probably went into shock. It must have been a terrible and agonic way to die.”

“Such comforting words, thank you, Doctor,” Knox said. The sergeant rolled his eyes beside him. “I’ll go find Zach, excuse me,” He said before leaving the room.

Doctor Kulkarni complained about too many people in the laboratory, so they all left and were guided to a conference room in the homicide floor. In the room there were already two detectives, a man, and a woman, going through files.

“Agents, these are detectives Braverman and Coleman,” Sergeant Gray said pointing at the woman and the men, respectively. The guy checked out Ethan discreetly, but he noticed. The guy wasn’t bad, but he looked too full of himself with his expensive suit and his perfectly groomed appearance.

Just a few seconds after, Detective Knox was back with his partner and they all sat around the table, discussing the files and what they knew. They were all sharing opinions and discussing, all but Detective Knox, who was sitting in front of Ethan. He had his eyes on Ethan, but it was obvious he was seeing through him and not at him.

“Look, Detective Coleman, I’m sure your dad pay for the best education you could get, but the fact the killer used a dagger for one of the wounds doesn’t make it part of a ritual. We don’t know it was a dagger,” Lena’s words brought Ethan back, but Knox was still somewhere else.

“Kid,” Sergeant Gray snapped his fingers in front of Knox, startling him. “I need you to come back here,” He said. It seemed strange that the sergeant was talking in such a cautious tone like he didn’t mean to scare the detective. These people had weird dynamics, but so did his team.

“Alright, enough of this bullshit. McAdams and Iglesias find out why the girl was there, and have Nyoko get whatever was on her cell phone. Ethan, you stay here with me and do that thing you are supposed to do.” Lena said standing up.

“Profiling, boss?”

“Yes. Sergeant, I need access to all the evidence. Also, I want to know who’s been interviewed.”

“Sure, but we’ll expect the same courtesy, and we want the cell phone information as well.”

“Whatever. Where is the Lieutenant? I want to speak to him,” Lena was really worked up by now. She and the sergeant left the room, leaving Ethan alone with the four detectives.

“So, Zach, I heard you got sick again?” Coleman asked the other detective.

“You haven’t seen the body, Lance. It’s- It’s terrible what was done to her.”

“Dorothy, you are not in Kansas anymore, so man up already,” Coleman said laughing.

“Can we go back to work, guys?” Braverman tried, but it was too late.

“So, if Zachary is Dorothy, who are you? The Tinman or the Cowardly Lion?” James asked. The question made the other detective grin.

“Good point, as always, Knox.”

“So, Agent Holiday, as a profiler, what do you think?” Zachary asked, seeming uncomfortable with the sudden silence and the looks Knox and Lance were exchanging.

“Not much by now, we really have too little to work with,” Ethan explained. It was true, he couldn’t say much, they had only one victim, and multiple stabbing could mean several things.

“Oh come on, what do they teach you in Quantico? Did the killer had a difficult childhood?” Coleman asked.

“I cannot say, detective. But besides my time in the FBI academy, I also have a forensic and criminal psychology masters, in addition to my psychiatry degree.”

“That’s amazing. Not many detectives here have a degree, you know?” Ethan decided then that Zach was too nice to be a homicide detective. “Actually, both Lance and James here have degrees. Right?”

“That’s right. I also have a masters in criminal law, by University of Columbia,” Lance said. Yes, daddy had paid the big money for that, but Ethan wasn’t having any of it.

“Good to know you could afford sixty grand a year to end up becoming a cop.” Ethan smiled. Coleman finally shut up and Knox tried to hide a smug smile, but again, Ethan noticed.

 

They started talking the case again and even managed to do it without another pissing contest. Coleman insisted in the ritualistic nature of the murder, Braverman half supported that, and Knox just rejected that theory. They made a preliminary profile agreeing that the killer might be a man in his thirties, who probably had some kind of complex about women, all of this supposing the victim didn’t know her killer. Ethan explained that in many cases like this one, the killer was impotent and sought sexual stimulation through the killing. That idea sickened Zachary, who openly said that.

“There are many people like that out there Zach. And like in Pokemon, you gotta catch them all,” James said as he stretched in his chair.

“It’s not funny, Jamie. Those people are sick.”

“No, they are not. Unless there is a voice inside their heads telling them to kill people, they are not sick.” James said to him. It was more or less true, Ethan thought. At least legally talking.

It was around noon when the sergeant had to take Braverman and Coleman from the team to put them back to their other cases, which left him alone with detectives Knox and Willows. Lena had gone MIA since she went to speak with the Lieutenant, and McAdams and Iglesias must be busy with Nyoko back in the office.

Once Coleman left the room, the air changed and seemed a lot less tense and they started working more comfortably. Knox and Willows worked well together. Willows asked questions, and Knox would answer them, mentioning old cases that resembled this.

“That’s where we should start. We should bring in similar cases that are unsolved, and also the Butcher’s Files, just in case.” Ethan suggested.

“Do you think this is not the first victim?” Knox asked knowingly.

“It’s a possibility. We can’t discard anything yet. Can you get files for any other similar cases?”

“I’ll go,” Willows said. “I can also bring us some lunch. Are you feeling better?” He asked James, who seemed at lost.

“Feeling better about what?”

“You were sick this morning, you feel like eating something now?”

“Oh. Yeah, that. Bring me something with meat. From at least three different animals. And don’t be a smartass and bring the snake thing again. Get me a cheeseburger. With bacon.”

“Whatever. Agent Holiday?”

“Oh, don’t worry about me, I’ll probably head out soon.”

“Okay then.” With Willows gone, they remained silent for a few seconds, just looking at each other, like they hadn’t had a chance all morning.

“So tell me, is the Texan guy the one that once hit a judge?” Knox asked.

“I guess he is some sort of celebrity for that. He is. Have worked with them before?”

“No, but I’ve heard about them. Sergeant Gray worked with them last year I think. And it’s pretty obvious he and your boss have a history.”

“Yeah, I think so.” Uncomfortable silence again. “This Coleman dude, what’s his problem?” That was a legit question.

“That he is a massive jerk, and the center of the universe. And he is marrying the captain’s daughter, so we are not getting rid of him anytime soon,” Knox said tiredly.

“That explains why he is so full of himself,” He conceded. But it didn’t explain that Coleman was into men. That was indeed fucked up. And so was the not so subtle looks coming from the other side of the table. Was Knox checking him out so blatantly? “Do you want a picture? It’ll last longer.”

“Sorry, what? I wasn’t paying attention,” Knox said. Ethan thought he could have misread the looks, maybe Knox had just spaced out again?

“Sorry, I thought you were… never mind.”

“I didn’t catch your name, and I’m not comfortable not knowing.”

“Oh, Ethan, Ethan Holiday.”

“I’m James, but as you've seen, nobody cares. But Zach, he calls me James sometimes.”

“He seems too nice a guy for this job, doesn’t he?”

“He is too nice for this. When we went to the crime scene, he got sick. He is a smart guy, he worked hard for this job, and he deserves it.” James said serious. “And for the record, I’m not saying somebody else doesn’t.”

“Don’t worry, even if you said it with actual words, I wouldn’t disagree.” James grinned, and so did Ethan.

“Dude, when you said ‘Harvard’, I could hear his blood boiling. Made my day.”

“He seems like a piece of work,” Ethan observed how James reacted to this topic. He was uncomfortable and anxious, or at least that’s what Ethan could get from his body language, but still seemed to want to make some more conversation. Maybe silence made him uncomfortable? Ethan wondered.

Suddenly, James stilled, and every chance of reading his mood died right there. It was like he had put on a mask and there were no feelings anymore.

“You are like a shrink, right?” James asked in a flat tone.

“Not exactly, I don’t treat people, I make profiles, analyze behaviors and that sort of things,” He explained.

“Well then, since I’m not a serial killer, please, stop trying to analyze my behavior and that sort of things with me,” He said leaning on the table and getting closer. After that, he stood up completely and left the room, leaving Ethan puzzled and completely alone.

It was probably about time to go back to the office and see if the rest of the team had something worth sharing.

 

***

For James, the day had started bad, then turned worse and now was reaching a whole new level with the FBI guy playing shrink on him.

First came the Lance thing, then the panic attack, and when he was already done with the whole day, around ten in the morning, the FBI comes in with that guy. Well, the entire FBI team bothered him, Lena Ellis was a bitch, sure, and the other two guys were probably as fucked up as her. But then was the other guy. Agent Ethan Holiday. The guy was hot, James hadn’t thought he had a type, but now he was pretty sure that tall, dark and dangerous looking was it, and that’s exactly how Agent Holiday was. Everything was almost fine, even thought he had caught James staring at him like an idiot, but then he fucked up. James had spent enough time with shrinks to notice when they are reading him. The worst part is that for a second he thought the guy might have been interested in him. Not that it would have meant anything, but it would have been nice to have someone liking him, even just a tiny little bit, the same day all the hopes he denied he had were crushed.

Now James was running away from all that, the whole morning had been too much for him. He even congratulated himself for being able to focus in the case for twenty minutes at a time.

At times like this, he just wanted to grab Alek and tell him everything so he could bitch about his problems to someone who would agree with him. But he couldn’t do that. So he just went out, called Zach and asked him to meet him in the pub to grab some lunch.

The heat was worse than ever at midday, so the short walk from the station to the pub felt like he was walking through hell instead of Lower Manhattan. When he reached the pub, he saw Zach waiting for him outside.

“What are you doing outside? It’s so fucking hot I saw hobbits throwing rings around here,” James said.

“Was waiting for you. And come on, it’s not that bad.”

“Not that bad? It was a ten-minute walk and I sweated more than a whore in church.”

“Oh no, don’t start with the-“

“I’m sweating like a dyslexic on a countdown,” James said, getting in and checking if their usual table was empty. It was. Finally, something good happened to him. He sat, and Zach followed suit.

“So how did it go with the FBI guy? Was he nice to you?”

“Why the hell do you ask that?”

“Lance was complaining about it. He said the guy was rude and all that. If we are going to work together, we all are going to have to make an effort to get along. Especially Lance, he really doesn’t like agent Holiday.”

“Lance can go fuck himself, it’s not up to him who we work with. Yet. I think.”

“Hi guys,” Barry greeted. “How you doing?”

“I’m hungry. And thirsty. I want a cheeseburger with bacon. A lot of bacon. And a coke. Icy. Like Flannegan’s heart cold.”

“Why you have to do that all the time?” Zach asked. He hated when James did that. “I’ll have the veggie burger and another coke, Barry.”

“Alright. Anything else?” before James said something weird, Zach stated that they didn’t need anything and Barry left.

“You are weird today. I mean, weirder than usual.”

“Thanks for noticing Zach, you are a sweetheart.”

“It wasn’t a compliment, James,” Zach explained. James sighed and prayed for patience for the rest of the day because none of his problems was Zach’s fault. He breathed deeply and tried his best to relax.

“It’s alright, I was kidding. How are you handling the body thing?”

“Can we… talk about it later, since we are about to eat and all?”

“Yeah, right, sorry. So, first impression of the feds?” James asked, looking for a less gruesome topic.

“To be honest, I expected them to look more professional. They were all pretty rude. Is it always like that?” While Zach was talking, Barry came by bringing the drinks.

“I haven’t work with feds that much, you know? Sarge in the other hand…” he shrugged one shoulder before drinking half his coke. He didn’t lie when he said he was thirsty.

“I hope we wrap up this case soon.”

“Me too, Zach, me too.”

 

The conversation evolved into something a little bit more cheerful, and for a little while, James forgot about some of his problems. They had to be back at work soon, so they finished their food, James joked about Zach rabbit food, and eventually, they went back to the precinct.

They went back to the conference room and started on their own. It was a lot easier for James to work with Zach, just with Zach. With Lance close, he couldn’t think straight. Or think at all. And with the feds, at least with Holiday, he now felt vulnerable and focused more on keeping his walls up than in the case. A while later, Braverman joined them and let them know Lance wouldn’t be working on the task force that much since they had other cases. She also hinted this came from the captain. It was evident that not even Lance’s partner was comfortable with his upcoming marriage.

“Are the feds coming back today?” James asked as casually as he could.

“Yeah, later in the afternoon. Agent Ellis had a few words with the Lieutenant, and they agreed to work together till we can discard any relation with the butcher, once we do that, we’ll have the feebs out of our hair.”

“Where do we start? We have nothing,” Zach complained.

“The toxicology results came, there were no drugs. The victim had drunk some wine, but not enough to be inebriated.” Juliet explained.

“So she had a glass or two of wine. Maybe she was having dinner with someone?”

“Not that anybody knew. She was supposed to meet her friends at some club in SoHo, and she was allegedly going there from her apartment.” Braverman said. They already knew all the information by heart.

“Did she take a cab? An Uber? Do we have her phone?” James asked.

“The FBI took it. They have ‘better’ experts on cracking things.” Juliet answered while she reviewed the pictures again.

“Because they hire the people who fuck with them,” James agreed, “so, let’s say that she has a glass of wine at home and then she takes a cab or an Uber to go to the club, but the driver has other plans.”

“It’s a possibility, "Juliet nodded, "but unless we have her phone, we cannot know about the Uber and unless she paid with credit card… It’s barely impossible to find which cab picked up a girl on a Friday night.”

“If she took a cab, probably took it near her place, we can try luck with traffic cameras.” Zach proposed.

“I’ll go get the records. Try to contact the feebs for the Uber thing.”

 

After Juliet had left, they kept proposing possibilities. The victim could have taken the subway, a bus, or maybe someone picked her up, but that was more unlikely. Zach was talking to him, probably saying something important, but James’ eyes had caught a glimpse of Agent Holiday getting off the elevator. He was on the phone and walking towards the conference room, but instead if going in, he stayed outside, still on the phone. James leaned back in his chair to have a better view of the agent, still ignoring his partner. The agent was few inches taller than him, probably around Zach’s height. James’ eyes wandered through the other’s man body, he was fit, it was obvious even with a suit on, and he had beautiful hands. It was a weird thought, James knew, but he like that in another man. James was tilting his head now, trying to figure the color of Ethan’s eyes, he thought they were some shade of something between brown and green, but he couldn’t tell. He was thinking how would it be to mess with Ethan’s perfectly groomed hair when Ethan looked straight at him from outside the room. This time Ethan had caught him staring, and there was no way out of it. James kept looking because if he averted his eyes now, he would look guilty. They stared at each other for a few more seconds and then Ethan turned around and started pacing again, still talking on his phone.

“Just let me know when you are done staring so we can keep working,” He suddenly heard Zach say.

“What?” James asked bewildered.

“You were staring at Agent Holiday, weren’t you?”

“What? No! Of course not.” James mumbled. “It’s just that he’s wearing a real nice suit. Seems expensive.”

“Yeah,” Zach agreed but didn’t seem convinced, “Looks like the kind of stuff Lance would wear. You think they make big money in the FBI? Or maybe he was already rich?”

“He studied sure studied in some fancy university, so he probably comes from a wealthy family. What you were saying earlier?”

“Before you got lost looking at Holiday?” James grunted something resembling a yes. “I was asking what would happen if there have been other murders like this.”

“We would have to investigate if they are related.”

“And if they are? Could it be a serial killer?”

“I guess it’s a possibility, but don’t go all crazy about it. This is not one of those cases.”

“How do you know? We could be facing a new Ted Bundy, or Jack the Ripper or-“

“Or we could be facing just some random guy who is impotent and wanted to screw the chick and couldn’t and stabbed her thirty-nine times because he is nuts,” James said.

“That’s unlikely,” Someone said behind him. He hadn’t heard the door, and now Ethan was sitting next to him, with a shit-eating grin and clearly pleased with himself.

“Why do you think so?”

“We found several unsolved cases with similarities.”

“How many are ‘several’ and what do you mean by ‘similarities’? James asked while praying it wasn’t a serial killer.

“We found three other similar cases,” he said, “We'll have the files here soon. All I can tell you by now is that in all three cases, the victims were mutilated.”

“Great. Zach, maybe you want to skip this part of the investigation since we ate less than two hours ago.”

“I’ll manage, thanks for your concern, James.”

They all remained silent for a while, and James felt Ethan’s eyes on him, he didn’t need to look at him to know the bastard was probably smiling. And doing the psychologist thing. Fortunately, Braverman came back with some officers carrying several evidence boxes, giving them something to do, besides share air in the uncomfortable silence.

“These are the cases we found similar,” She explained to Ethan. “They are the same you asked for.”

“Did you find something about the traffic cameras?” James asked.

“The computer guys are looking into that now.”

“Why are you checking the traffic cameras?” Ethan asked.

“We thought that she might have taken a cab or an Uber, maybe the driver knows why she was in Hell's Kitchen,” Zach explained. Braverman and James looked at each other, probably thinking the same. Zach was too good a guy for this case, and probably for this job altogether.

“I see. Were you guys planning to share that?” Ethan asked, slightly upset.

“Are you guys planning to share whatever you find on the victim’s phone?” James retorted.

“We are solving a murder, maybe more than one, we need to work together,” Ethan said calmly like he was talking to a child.

“Whatever. Just let us know if she called a cab or asked for an Uber.”

“She didn’t call for any of those. At least not from the phone we have, and I don’t think she had another one.”

“She could have stopped a cab in the street, so we have nothing.”

Ethan sighed and opened the first folder. “We have some Anna Meyers. She was admitted in the Presbyterian suffering from numerous stabs in the legs and lower part of her body.”

“Wait, she was admitted? She’s alive? When did this happen?” James asked.

“She’s not, she died days after. This was months ago, in February,” Ethan looked thoughtful now.

“You think that was the first? And he fucked up. And then tried again, don’t you?” James asked, afraid to be right.

“It looks like it.” Ethan conceded.

“Well, if you are both right, he screwed the next time as well,” Braverman said. She had started with the next folder and was looking at the files and pictures. Zach was doing none of that. “March 28, Alice Wallace, some guy knocked at the door and assaulted her when she opened. Stabbed her twice and took her money and other valuable items.

“This doesn’t look like the same guy, right?” Zach asked.

“The MO is not the same, but let’s suppose the first murder was an accident-“

“Because you stab a woman in the legs and abdomen a dozen times ‘by accident’” James added and Ethan pretended he didn’t hear him.

“And he liked it. Or it was a test to himself. The second one would be sort of planned.”

“There were no suspects in any of this cases?” Braverman wondered aloud while shaking her head. “Three women assassinated and all three cases are unsolved? Nobody found similarities?”

“Jules,” James tried to placate her. “We will find who did this.”

“What if it’s not the same person? This cases will go back to the cold case shelf and will die there. It's not fair.”

“Look, Jules. I’m sure this bothers you a lot, but let’s just focus and put that bitchiness to use,” James had no patience to be any nicer than that. He was having a terrible, not good, bad, awful day, and still had half of it to go through. He sighed loudly and took the last folder since Zach had pretended it didn’t exist.

The last victim was different, it was the only one who wasn’t a young woman. Emily Summers, she was divorced and had two kids. She was killed just eight days after Alice Wallace, which was odd. According to the report, she had been beaten and raped and had died in the hospital from her wounds the same night.

“This one doesn’t fit with the rest. This victim was older, had kids. It’s not even the same profile of victim, why did you ask for it?” James asked Ethan. “Besides, the medical examiner suggest there was more than one perpetrator. This one doesn’t match,” He added, dropping the folder on the table.

“Don’t discard it so soon, James,” Ethan asked. James felt funny hearing the other man saying his name. It sounded good. Zach coughed and kicked his leg under the table, making him come back from that thought.

“Sorry, what?” He asked. Ethan sighed again and rolled his eyes. Good, he seemed annoyed. Welcome to the club, James thought, laughing in silence. Zach was looking at him weird now.

“Can we talk to the detectives in charge of these cases?” Ethan asked.

“What for? They didn’t do shit about it. They're not going to be helpful now.”

“James, try to be a little less negative. Agent Holiday is trying to help.”

“Me too, I’m helping us not to waste time we might not have if it is indeed a serial killer.”

“Alright, James, what do you suggest we should do next?” Ethan asked. It was the twentieth suggestion of Ethan's that James had shut down. He was probably feeling the beginnings of frustration.

“Let’s read first the autopsy reports. Look for the weapon, maybe it matches with some other victim, maybe even with our case.”

“We have nothing on the weapon yet.”

“We know there were two weapons, the knife, and the dagger. Maybe one of them was used in the other murders.” Ethan nodded his head.

“Alright, let’s do that. But then will talk to the other detectives.”

“Whatever, Ethan,” James said, just to call the special agent by his name.

 

The rest of the afternoon was as unsuccessful. Ethan was fed up with him, Juliet didn’t care anymore, and Zach had given up trying to be the mediator. All they got was a bunch of phone conversations with the medical examiners and the other detectives that took them nowhere. James was grateful the day was over, and after Ethan had left, his coworkers started picking up their belongings to do the same. James had to recover his jacket before leaving, but on the way to his desk, Lance stopped him.

“Hey,” the other man greeted him, “I thought I’ll never get you alone.”

“You won’t, I’m leaving,” James took his jacket and started walking to the elevator, but Lance followed.

“Don’t be like that, I want to explain.”

“There’s no need. It’s all pretty clear to me.”

“Jamie, come on, meet me in the pub?” Lance pleaded.

“What for, Lance?” James asked, stopping to look at the other man. It took Lance a few seconds to answer.

“So we can talk.”

“Talk to your fiancé.”

James got in the elevator leaving Lance dumbfounded. He probably didn’t expect James to be so bitter. But James was hurt, and that bothered him. He decided he would go straight to the pub and would drink himself into a stupor. If Lance showed up, he could always ignore him. Besides, Lance wouldn’t try anything in a bar full of cops who knew him. He trusted Barry enough to know he would stop serving him and would put him in a cab when he was shitfaced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! The next chapter will take a bit longer, I only had these few ones already written.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some corrections and other changes have been made because being slightly high and posting stuff is never a good idea, but I did it anyway with this last chapter.

James didn’t stay too long in the pub after all. The crowd of the Mondays after work was depressing, and that was the last thing he needed that night.

He decided on his way home that what he did need was to let off some steam. In less than an hour, he was back on the streets on his way to one of the many clubs that opened every night. Lucky him, this was New York, and there would always be an open club, a crowd, a party and someone willing.

On his way to the SoHo, he started feeling ridiculous and self-conscious for doing something as stupid and irresponsible as clubbing on a weeknight just because he had been dumped. Or something like that. James had been doing his best to ignore the messages he was receiving on his phone. He didn’t need to look to know they were all from Lance.

He got to a famous gay club close to the SoHo and was glad to see there was no line to get in. The last time he had been there, during some time off with Lance, he had to wait at least half an hour to be able to enter the club, just for a few drinks and a quickie inside. Somehow, that wasn’t a bad prospect for that night though.

The club was famous for his crazy parties with local celebrities and well-known DJs and also for the action that happened in the back. The club had a long bar with several barmen, a large dance floor and several stages for gogo dancers.

Once inside the bar, he was again surprised by the city’s nightlife. The club was packed to be a Monday night, and people were partying like it was the weekend. He walked towards the bar, exchanging a few looks with several guys and then tried to get the barman’s attention to order a beer.

Since the closest guy behind the bar seemed busy flirting and preparing shots for a small group of young guys, most likely not old enough to drink or even be inside the club, he turned and scanned the club. At least half the guys were twinks, but there were also a few big guys, a small group wearing leather and the usual guys who wore glitter as an accessory.

When he turned to the bar again, the barman was still too busy, but now right next to him a gorgeous man was trying to order as well. The guy looked like one of those firefighters from sexy calendars, or so thought James. The other man was a bit taller than him, had broad shoulders and a strong jaw, the kind of thing he liked in men. James didn’t even bother to be discreet while taking a good look, you were not discreet in a gay club if you wanted to get laid. Or at all.

“Sorry, you are not my type,” the man said, not even bothering to look at James.

“Jeez, is not like I wanted to donate blood, I just want to fuck,” James answered in the same disinterested tone. That made the guy turn and look at him.

“With that attitude, I’m sure you’ll find someone soon enough,” the other man conceded with a smile.

“Let’s hope you are right,” James mumbled. The barman finally realized they existed and stopped in front of them. “Beer and two shots of tequila,” James ordered over the music so the barman could hear him. Immediately, the barman poured the shots and brought a beer, and while James paid, the other guy ordered his drinks. He drank his shots and couldn’t help to laugh when the hot guy was served a pink fruity drink. The hunk nodded at him and walked away.

“Don’t take it personally, that one is a lightweight drinking and only pick up twinks,” the barman told him with a sympathetic smile. He remembered seeing this same barman some other time, and as that night, he was fake tanned and half-naked, but that was part of the job, right?

“When did I get too old for this kind of place?” James asked to no one in particular, before taking a swig of beer.

“You are not, darling. Half the people here tonight is underage. If the cops busted right now, we would never open again,” the bar was suddenly half empty, and everybody was on the dancefloor. It was probably some hot song, James thought. He was utterly lost in the clubbing scene, he didn’t really like to dance unless he was really drunk or really horny, or even better, both. He had no idea which songs were hot or who was that DJ everybody loved.

That made him feel like he didn’t belong there either.

“I see,” James said, distracted by his own thoughts and not realizing at all what the barman had just said.

“You look pretty tonight. Why don’t you go there and mingle a bit?” The barman asked while serving two more shots nobody had ordered.

“I’m not a good dancer.” He answered, taking one of the shots.

“A shame. I’m sure many of those guys would love to dance with you.”

“I didn’t really come here to dance, you know?” He smiled, taking the other shot.

“Aw, I get it. You got dumped?”

“You are a very perceptive,” James admitted, a bit surprised.

“After two years behind this bar, you can read everyone problems, darling.”

 

James nodded and turned and leaned on the bar. Most of the guys were dancing or rubbing against other guys on the dancefloor. There was a lot of movement in the back of the club so there might even be an orgy in the restroom. Again. Last time he came to the club he discovered that those things actually happened. Not that he joined or anything, but since he was already there he watched a bit.

 

“Is not that is any of my business but that guy over there has been watching you since you got here,” the barman said, nodding at a guy at the end of the bar.

“You really are perceptive, aren’t you? You should be a cop,” James joked, making the barman laugh.

“Oh, darling, I see everything,” the barman said winking at him. James rolled his eyes and looked at the man at the end of the bar again. Blond, blue eyes, fancy shirt and smiling and winking at him. That would do, James thought, seemed easy enough. He finished his beer and moved around all the people near the bar trying to get to him.

“Hello there,” they guy greeted when he finally reached him.

“So I’ve been told you were watching me?”

“Was I that obvious?” he asked playfully.

“Nah, apparently the barman ‘sees everything,’“

“I’m Brendan.”

“Alex,” James lied. It was a stupid thing to do, but he couldn’t help it, and he never gave his name to any guy he met at a club. You never know when someone is going to appear in a police station and recognize you as that guy who sucked you off in some dark alley.

“Nice to meet you, Alex. So tell me, what are you doing here tonight?”

“The same thing everybody is doing here I guess? Trying to get laid?” Brendan laughed, and James smiled. “Wait, aren’t you here for that? Am I wasting my time?” He asked, only half joking.

“Oh, no, you are not wasting your time, and I promise you, you won’t be wasting your money either,” He said, with a lascivious smile before finishing his drink. James wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but then Brendan raised his hand and ordered more drinks. “So tell me, what kind of job do you have that allows you to go clubbing on a Monday night?”

“Actually, I shouldn’t be here at all, I have to work early in the morning,” he admitted. That much he could share.

“Oh, naughty boy, I like that.”

The drinks arrived, and then they ordered some more. They flirted for another twenty minutes, and then Brendan decided that they absolutely needed to dance, and since James had drunk enough, he went with it.

By “dancing” Brendan apparently meant make out and grinding while bumping into every man around them. James wasn’t going to complain about that though. Things were getting ridiculously hot, and judging by the crowd in the back of the bar, that was not an option.

While on the dancefloor, James saw the hunk from the bar again. It seemed to be true he was not the guy’s type after all. He was sucking face with some twink who was probably fresh out of high school. Between the underage drinking and all the drugs, this place might be raided anytime by the cops. On that thought, James decided to leave, just in case.

He tried to tell Brendan to leave, but the music was impossibly loud. Somehow, the other man understood and followed him out.

James would have killed for a cigarette at that moment, after getting out of the club, breathing the night air and feeling momentarily deaf when all the noise and music from inside suddenly stopped when they stepped out.

He turned to Brendan to ask him what to do next or where to go, but his words died in his throat. Brendan was debauched from the dancing, his shirt half open and wrinkled in all the places James had grabbed him, his hair pointing all directions and his lips swollen from making out.

Any other night, he would have found a quiet place or maybe even a dark alley. But that night he was drunk, horny and heartbroken, which is his opinion, was the most dangerous combination possible. After Alek, Chinese snake liquor and fireworks.

After that, he remembered getting home and start taking clothes off, leaving them wherever they landed. He also recalled Brendan asking him strange questions he couldn’t really understand at that moment since he was busy trying to drag the other guy to his bed.

The sex was actually great, Brendan just complied with everything James wanted. He allowed James to be in charge and move him around and wouldn’t stop saying how good it was. James was flattered, none of the men he had slept with had ever told him thing like that during sex.

After the second time, James was satisfied and exhausted so he couldn’t barely register Brendan asking for permission to crash there. He just mumbled something and blacked out.

 

He was woken up with Alek shouting "good morning princess" while entering his apartment. He cursed under his breath, feeling like crap, and turned in his bed. He had forgotten to close the curtains the night before, and when he tried to open his ever, he realized Brendan was still there, waking up as well.

He could hear Alek moving around his kitchen, probably preparing coffee before kicking him awake.

“Oh my God, is that your boyfriend?” Brendan whispered, now fully awake. James was frozen. He was naked with another man in his bed, and Alek was two seconds away from opening the door and-

“Morning sunshi-” Alek opened the door and stopped mid-sentence when he saw him with Brendan.

“Hi,” Brendan said.

“Ehm, hi. What’s – What’s going on here?” Alek asked frowning.

“Nothing,” James managed to say.

“I was just leaving anyway,” Brendan said, standing and picking up his discarded clothes with all the dignity possible while Alek watched everything. James tried to do the same thing but could only retrieve his boxers.

“Jamie?” Alek asked again.

“I can explain.”

“Look, I know it’s probably a bad time but –“ Brendan started, while he finished buttoning his shirt. He was as fast dressing as he was undressing.

“Yeah, it’s a terrible time, and you should probably leave now,” James said, still looking at Alek, who was looking at him dumbfounded in return. He couldn’t blame his best friend for looking at him like that.

“Well, you still have to pay me.” That made James look at Brendan.

“Wait. Did you just say 'pay'?” Alek asked looking first at Brendan and then at James. “What the fuck, Jamie?”

“Are you a – a hooker?” James asked, starting to freak out.

“I’m an escort, for your information. And you owe me five hundred dollars.”

“What?!” James exclaimed.

“Oh my God, Jamie. You hired a rent boy last night?! What the fuck is wrong with you?” Alek asked, probably loud enough for the neighbors to hear.

“I didn’t know he was a hooker!”

“Escort,” Brendan corrected again, offended.

“And why is it so fucking expensive?!” James asked he was losing it.

“We fucked twice, I sucked you off, and I paid for most of the drinks,” Brendan explained.

“You fucked this guy twice!?”

“Why is that the most surprising part of this!?”

“Everything is surprising, James. Every fucking thing,” Alek answered.

“I have things to do, places to be, so –” Brendan interrupted again, crossing his arms, and looking impatient.

“Jesus fucking Christ, shut up already!” James shouted. He looked for his wallet, but as expected, he barely had one hundred dollars in cash. “You won’t happen to take credit card, right?

“Is it a joke?” Brendan asked.

“Yes, of course, it's a joke,” James responded completely serious.

“For fuck Sake,” Alek said, taking his wallet from the pocket of his running jacket. “This better be the only time I pay for sex for you,” he said counting bills, “how much do you have there?”

“Eighty bucks,”

“I have three hundred.” He said looking at Brendan, who rolled his eyes.

“I can’t believe this. Ok, I’ll take that because you let me crash here. But there won’t be discounts in the future, James,” great, the hooker knew his real name now. “Have a nice day, James,” He said again before taking the money and leaving.

James sighed loudly and sat on his bed heavily.

“What the fuck is going on, Jamie?” Alek asked finally. “Did you go out last night and drank yourself stupid or something? I mean, how much did you drink to bring a dude home and fuck him? Twice!” James brought his hands to his face. He was a bit hungover and so not ready for this conversation.

“It's not the first time I –“ he started, with a small voice and his hands still on his face.

“What?” Asked Alek carefully. “You’ve hired hookers before?”

“No!” he exclaimed, “I mean he is not the first guy I sleep with.” Alek was looking at him like he had just said that in his free time he killed kittens to make hats or something.

“What are you trying to say, James?”

“I like men. Better than women. That’s what I’m trying to say,” he murmured, looking at his own hands, now on his lap.

“You are – since when?”

“Since forever I guess,” James shrugged.

The silence that followed his answer was so thick that he dared to look up and saw Alek looking anywhere but him.

“You've been lying to me. For ten years!” Alek stood abruptly.

“No, I just –”

“No, spare me the bullshit. How could you hide this from me? I thought we were friends! I've always trusted you with everything. What else have you been hiding?”

“Nothing,” he lied, feeling that word burning him when he said it.

“I don’t believe you. I can’t believe anything you say anymore. How could you hide something like this from me for ten fucking years? You are one cold-blooded son of a bitch. I guess that's why you were always so fucking miserable. I can’t believe this,” Alek rambled while pacing in front of him like a caged animal.

“Alek, let me explain,” James tried again, grabbing Alek’s bicep. Alek shook his hand off and walked towards the door. “Alek, please!” he followed.

“Leave me alone, James,” Alek warned leaving and closing the door behind him with a loud bang.

 

James stood looking at the closed door for a long moment. What if Alek outed him? No, that made no sense, Alek was furious and probably hurt, but he wouldn't do that to him, would he?

He didn’t know how many minutes had passed when he was startled by a knock on his door. He ran to open.

“Alek, listen-,” he started, but it wasn’t Alek, it was Zach.

“Hey. You weren’t answering your phone,” the red-haired detective explained. Then he looked at James bare chest and low hanging boxers. “Do you realize you are almost naked, right?”

“I do. Did you see Alek? Did he tell you something?”

“I didn’t see him. Why?”

“No reason. So what did you want?”

“I have been calling you. Are we going for a run today?” James was hungover, in a bad mood and after that fight, he didn’t think Alek was going to join them.

“I don’t think-“

“Come on, whatever it is, I’m sure it’ll help you.”

James sighed and went to his room to put his running clothes on. That hungover was going to be killing him for the rest of the day anyway, maybe running would help with that headache that was starting to form in the back of his head.

 

Just like the day before, they run around the park, but this time without Alek. The day was clear, and it wasn’t too hot yet, and thanks to the many trees most of the path was protected from the unforgiving sun. Zach was perceptive enough to avoid asking about Alek’s absence, and they run in silence most of the time. After a few laps, James recognized Lance’s fiancé running a few meters ahead. He turned around suddenly to avoid her and Zach followed without a word. Sometimes James had to give him that, he was like a big, silent, loyal, red puppy.

“Hey, wanna come to my place for breakfast? I bought some great-“ Zach was proposing.

“Sure,” James cut him.

“Oh, great! You are going to love my quiche!” Zach answered smiling brightly. James sighed again.

 

To be completely honest, he did like the quiche, even though it was made out of tofu and spinach, which is something James never thought he would have for breakfast.

After that, he went back to his apartment for a quick before leaving for work. He knew he probably looked a bit sick and even though the run and the healthy breakfast had helped, he still felt off.

He stopped by Alek’s apartment on his way out, knocked several times and waited, but after getting no response for several minutes, he gave up. Alek must had left already.

On his way to work, he thought of what could he tell Alek to be forgiven. He also owed him three hundred dollars. What the fuck was he thinking the night before? He couldn’t help being a bit paranoid. Did those cops look at him funny? Did they know? Did Alek tell someone?

He shook his head and kept walking. He was in the elevator pressing the button for his floor when the doors started closing, someone called him to hold the door. He was tempted to pretend he didn’t hear it, but he reached for the button to open the doors again and regretted it immediately when Lance stepped in the elevator.

“Hey,” Lance greeted. James mumbled something in return. He did his best not to look at the other man in his expensive suit. Even the smell of Lance’s aftershave bothered him now. “Look, I think we need to talk about-“

“Did you know your fiancé runs every morning in the park in front of my building? I go there too,” Lance opened his mouth to say something but changed his mind and closed it again for a few moments.

“Is that a threat?”

“What? No, it’s just an “it’s a small world” kind of thing.”

Lance seemed about to say something else again when the doors opened on their floor, and James didn’t wait for it. He walked a bit faster than usual to get rid of Lance as soon as possible. The station was already crowded, and everybody seemed busy, pretty much like any other day.

When he approached his desk, Sarge asked James to join him in the room where they were working the stabbing case.

“You look like shit, kid,” Gray whispered when James entered the room. Holiday and Ellis were already there too, looking nice and professional. James hadn’t even bothered to wear a suit that day. It was hot outside, and he was in a terrible mood, so he was showing it.

“Thanks, you look stunning, as usual,” He said sitting in the first empty chair he found. The Feebs exchanged looks briefly and then looked back at Gray.

“We brought the ex-boyfriend for interrogation,” Gray explained to James.

“Whose?” He asked for no reason. It was obviously the victim’s, but he just did.

“The victim’s ex-boyfriend, Knox. I was hoping you and Holiday would ask him a few questions.”

“Oh, sure. Of course.”

“I’m not sure Detective Knox is up to such task,” Holiday intervened. He was wearing a navy suit that brought out the color if his eyes, and he hadn't shaved that morning. It was definitely a good look on agent Holiday.

“Excuse me?” James asked, trying to look genuinely offended.

“I didn't mean to offend, but you seem a bit - how can I put it –“

“Hungover. Your man is hungover. On a Tuesday morning, Gray,” Lena interrupted.

“He’s fine,” the sergeant said, looking at James with that look that said, “you are screwed and going to be doing paperwork for the next two weeks.” Sergeant Gray could be very expressive with just one look.

“Actually they are right Sarge, I’m hungov-“

“Not helping your case here, son,” Gray cut him. He was now looking at him in that way that made him feel guilty for disappointing him. After all, in some ways, he owed him and Flannegan a lot, and he knew it.

“Sorry, Sarge. I had a weird day yesterday, and things went a bit out of hand,” James apologized. Gray sighed and sat next to him.

“We’ll talk about that later. Zach is with Dr. Kulkarni working on the murder weapon. He volunteered" he clarified when James frowned, "she said she can make a mold or something that might help us find the weapon-“

“Weapons, there were two different kinds of-“ Ellis corrected him immediately.

“Right,” Gray interrupted her as well. Then turned back to James, “Have a coffee. Or five. And unfuck your shit. I want to know everything about the victim before lunch,” Gray told him.

“Agent Holiday will have it way before that.”

“Well then it’s great we are all on the same team, right?” James asked with a big fake smile on his face. He heard Holiday snort at that.  He got it, the special agent didn't like him much. He could live with that.

 

Lena opened a file on the table. It was information about the mentioned ex-boyfriend. The poor guy only had a few parking tickets and wasn’t even dating the girl anymore. James took better a look at it. Ferdinand Collins. He was a barista in one of those trendy coffee shops, and by the looks of it, he didn’t make the kind of money his ex-girlfriend did. That made him think. Melissa Taylor was an assistant in a legal Firm, but her tastes looked fancier than what she should be able to afford with that kind of salary.

“Why did they break up?” James asked.

“According to this report, it was Ferdinand who broke up with her, but whoever wrote this didn’t elaborate,” Ethan responded.

“We’ll start there then.”

He stood and took the folder with him leaving the room. It was a good shot, even though they had the problem with the second weapon, jealousy or the fear of being discovered were good reasons to kill. Not that James thought so, but so far, were the usual ones.

The boyfriend should be already there, and he'd rather get done with this soon. Holiday was following him, trying to catch up, but he wasn't used to dodging cops, perps, chairs, and sometimes even animals. The precinct could look like a circus sometimes.

 

“You could have told me you were coming already," Ethan said finally walking next to him.

James wished he had heard Holiday say those words in an entirely different situation, with fewer clothes on. That made him smile, and he tried to hide it, but he was pretty sure Ethan saw it.

 

***

 

Ethan followed James to the room where Collins should be waiting. He was actually fascinated by the detective’s psyche. It was like looking at a glass about to break in a million shreds, but that was somehow holding itself together. He was sure it was a matter of time that a man like James would lose it and have a psychotic outbreak. The day before, when he went back to his apartment, to his still full of boxes apartment, he couldn't help himself and ended up looking up James’ File.

James A. Knox was indeed a fascinating individual. He had been in the USMC for almost eight years, but according to the file, he didn't cut ties completely, so that was the first strange thing. After that, he had been a detective for a couple of years. Ethan thought there was something suspicious about how he landed the job and his relationship with the Lieutenant. Both the Lieutenant and the Sergeant were ex-marines as well, and that was probably not a coincidence.

But definitely, what caught Ethan’s attention, from a medical point of view, was the lack of information about James medical file. Most policemen or members of LO would have some background for previous injuries and especially psychologic evaluations, and Knox's were missing. There was also a lack of information about his whereabouts right after he left the Corps. Ethan had FBI level clearance, so whatever information missing in James file had to be strictly confidential, which made no sense for a city cop.

Ethan wanted to know what all that meant. He had always been too curious for his own good. That was partly why he was so good at his job, he would do anything to get to the bottom of things. Although the psychiatry degree and excellent observation skills helped too.

James opened the door and let him go in first. Ethan looked at the guy sitting inside, Ferdinand Collins, who didn’t look like the guy in the pictures. This man seemed on edge, nervous, but not guilty. At least not from murder.

He greeted him and sat in one of the chairs. James sat next to him little after.

“So, Ferdinand,” James started, opening the folder he had brought with him. “My sergeant told me this morning that I looked like shit. I guess he hasn’t seen you yet,” James said grinning. Ethan looked at him stunned. That was an unusual way of starting questioning a suspect.

“Excuse me?”

“Excuse Detective Knox. You don’t need to worry, I understand this might seem serious, but it’s just the usual procedure. We just need to ask you some questions about Melissa so we can try to understand what was going on in her life. After that, you are free to go.”

“Ok,” Ferdinand said, nodding.

“So, first question, just to take it off the table. You didn’t kill her, did you?” James asked plainly. Ethan looked at him bewildered again. What the hell was he doing?

“No! Of course not!” the poor ex-boyfriend exclaimed. “I loved her. I still loved her,” He said, looking miserable.

“Then why did you break up with her?”

“She cheated on me.”

“And you know that because…?” the detective asked.

“She told me.”

“Because you suspected,” James said, it was not a question.

“Yes.”

“Why did you think she was cheating, Ferdinand?”

“She had new clothes, purses, all designer stuff. She cannot – couldn’t afford those things.”

“Do you happen to know who the other guy was?” James asked now, in a different tone.

“No. I wish I had pushed her to tell me. You think that guy did this?”

“I think a lot of things, Ferdinand,” Knox answered, reading something on the file again as if the conversation was boring him.

“Look, Ferdinand, we need to know if Melissa would have a reason to be in Hell’s kitchen that night. Can you think of anything?” Ethan asked, trying to sound as sympathetic as possible.

“I-“ the guy started. He sighed, “No. She never went to that kind of places. That I know of.”

“Maybe she wanted a massage. Or a tattoo,” James said, finally lifting his eyes from the file and looking at Ferdinand.

“I don’t think so.”

“Do you think she would date an older guy?”

“Sorry?” Ferdinand asked.

“You know, a married man. Maybe some guy with money, in his mid-forties. Mid-life crisis, your wife is not hot as tits anymore, your kids are doing more coke than you on New Year's Eve, and that twenty-something girl has the hots for you.”

“You think she was a home-wrecker?! You didn’t know Melissa like I do! She never would –“

“That’s why I’m asking,” James cut. Ethan understood immediately what the detective was trying. Maybe the victim wanted more out of that relationship. Maybe the married guy didn’t want to leave his wife after all. And perhaps that’s why she was in Hell's Kitchen because they met there to avoid meeting any acquaintances.

They still had too many unanswered questions, possible links to other murders and the second weapon, but this was the best they had at the moment and was worth looking into it.

“Excuse us, Ferdinand. I need to talk to the detective in private for a moment.” Ethan said, standing.

“Ok,” said James. They left the room, and before Ethan could say anything, the other man walked into the room on the other side of the mirror. He looked at Ferdinand through the glass and remained silent.

“Look, I know this is how you usually do your job, but I must say that your interrogation skills are some of the most fucked up I’ve ever seen. And I worked with that guy who used to cry to make people talk.”

“Oh, you know Jimmy?” James asked.

“Forget about Jimmy," of course James would know a fellow weirdo. Ethan ignored that, "What did you expect to get acting like an asshole? The good cop-bad cop thing is too old, you know?”

“There's not much else we are going to get from him. We know pretty much everything he knows. Which is nearly nothing, because he thought the girl was a saint.”

“And you don’t?”

“She had two Fendi purses, and I remember red soles on half her high heels,” James explained. Ethan didn’t expect him to say something like that.

“What? I might not be rich, but I can recognize the good stuff. You don’t have to look so surprised.” Now he was pouting and damn if the grumpy detective wasn’t cute. Ethan smiled in spite of himself.

“I didn’t say a word.”

“But you were thinking about it,” James quipped, squinting at him. Ethan chuckled and did his best to go back to business mode. They had a job to do, and flirting with someone who was working on the case wasn't a good idea. Flirting at all was not a good idea. Even less with closeted men, he had had his fair share of those and promised himself to have some more self-respect in the future.

“So, what do we have? She was probably seeing someone else.”

“Someone with money. A married man would make a lot of sense, but it’s hard to believe that none of her friends knew about a new hookup. Unless-“

“Unless it was someone they knew,” Ethan interrupted. “What do we know about her coworkers?” James was smiling at him now, “What?”

“Nothing. Let’s dismiss this poor fool and look into the coworkers.”

Once again, James left the room, leaving him behind. Ethan sighed and went back to following the detective around.

This case was going to be a tough one, and not only for the complexity of it by itself, but also for the distractions attached to working with the NYPD, or so thought Ethan while chasing James around the noisy room.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been a while but the story is not death, neither am I, so bear with me for a bit.
> 
> Thanks for reading!

James managed to go through most of the morning without issues, without sparing too much thought to whatever he was going to do about Alek. Once Zack was back, he felt a bit relieved to have someone else to talk to and look at. Even though Holiday seemed nicer that morning, he still felt the feeb’s eyes on him too often, and not in a good, sexy way, more in a BAU agent kind of way, and he was no serial killer.

With Zack, they got a few bits of new information about the weapons.

“So apparently Lance was right about a dagger,” Zack concluded after explaining that doctor Kulkarni had managed to get an approximate identification on the second weapon. By the looks of it and the particles recovered from the body, it must have been a pretty old dagger, XIX century.

“So it was a ritual after all?” James asked a little disappointed. He still didn’t want Lance to be right. “How does a cult fits in all this? Was her lover part of this cult? Maybe she was lured into it with gifts and used as a sacrifice to bring back the antichrist?”

“We can’t discard that she was randomly chosen, maybe she didn’t know her killer,” Holiday said ignoring his last question.

“I thought that in most cases like this one, the killer is someone from the victim’s environment. I guess that the ritual thing makes sense, but with so many stabs, I thought it’d be something personal.”

“As I say, we cannot discard anything just yet. For all we know it might be both.”

James was looking at the pictures again, not that he needed it, but he had to keep himself and his hand busy not to fidget. The scene was still fresh in his mind, and that memory brought back how he felt that night after seeing Lance.  He shook his head, about to say something when his cell phone vibrated on the table. “Excuse me,” he said standing up and picking up. “What have you done this time?” He asked sharply.

“Well, hello to you too, brother,” his younger sister, Tess, answered cheekily as usual. “I did nothing, I just wanted to know if I can come over to your place this weekend?” The tone changed a bit with the question. Jamie felt guilty immediately because he knew he was neglecting his sister lately and the teenager was having a bit of a hard time. Their mother had a new boyfriend, Ted, and Tess didn’t like him. The feeling seemed to be mutual.

More often than not, Tess would try to crash at his place to avoid sharing space with Ted, especially during the weekends, which made it even harder for James to have a private life. James had met the guy a few times, Ted wasn’t a monster by any means, but the guy was conservative and probably too authoritarian for what Tess was used to. After their father left, Jamie had been the man in the house, but only for so long, since he left for the marines as soon as he was old enough. After that, Tess grew up around a mostly absent working mother, their older sister, Allyson, and whatever skype call Jamie could spare from overseas.

They were a broken, dysfunctional family, and now Tess was the one paying for it.

“By the way, are you coming for dinner on Friday? Maybe I can go back to your place with you after?” Tess asked hopefully.

“Tessy…”

“Please? I want to talk to you about a few things,” She said before James could say anything else.

“What kind of things? Did something happened?”

“Not really… but I think mum and Ted want me to go to that private school he went to? You know, the one with uniforms and Jesus and praying…”

“Maybe it’s a great school?” Jamie tried.

“What if I become a fucking moron too?”

“Language,” He said. Not that he was a good example or anything, but someone had to be there for her little sister, even if it was to chastise her.

“You know who else attended that school? Your favorite brother in law!” She claimed.

“Unless you have gotten married recently, I only have one brother in law, and we all know that not even like that Joshua is my favorite,” Ally had married while he was away and now had two kids and a husband that insisted in being called Joshua.

“Ally agrees, of course. I hate her.” Tess said, and James could perfectly picture his younger sister, pouting and wrinkling her nose. Tess, unlike Ally and James himself, had black hair, but she had their mom’s signature blue eyes, and James knew how she must be looking at that very moment.

“Tessy, she’s your sister, you don’t mean that. Why are you so grumpy?”

“Ugh, where do I start?” James didn’t have time for this but made a mental note to make sure he talked about all those issues with Tess later.

“Hey, I gotta go, but we’ll talk later, okay?”

“Whatever. I’ll pack a bag for the weekend, bye!” She said before he could say no. James rolled his eyes and sighed before going back to the meeting room.

“Everything alright?” Holiday asked with a shit-eating grin. James really wanted to hate him, but he couldn’t help finding the special agent ridiculously attractive, even if he was being a jerk.

“It was a personal call.”

“Tess again?” Zack asked. James nodded but didn’t say anything, and he couldn’t help noticing that Holiday was intrigued now, but he was also too cool to ask.

“So, what’s next? Do we compare with other cases? Look for the secret lover?” James asked after the short silence.

“None of the other cases you found had a similar murder weapon,” Ethan commented. “It’s possible, if it’s really a ritual, that one of the others attacks was a test. Maybe he was practicing or proving himself he could pull this out.”

“If that was the case, doesn’t that mean he’s going to keep killing? And getting better at it?” James had suspected that much since they discarded the boyfriend and found out about the second weapon. If it’s not personal, it might be a serial killer for real.

“I never thought I’d be involved in a serial killer investigation,” Zack said. “How do we work in a case like this? Any minute we loss might cost someone else’s life.”

They didn’t talk much after that. Ethan was looking into the victim coworkers with Zack while James reread the other cases. No links between the victims, no physical evidence. Two of them didn’t really match the MO, but Anna Meyers might have been the first attempt of a serial killer instead of a passional crime. The wounds were sloppy, and unlike the most recent victim, not in the right places. Anna survived her wounds long enough to get to the hospital, but Melissa had died on the streets.

James looked up from his file, and his eyes immediately were drawn to Ethan. He couldn’t help himself. He told himself to stop, to go back to the file, to leave the room and take a break, but he just wanted to stare at a good-looking man while he could. Then he felt guilty. This was still his dirty little secret, and he still needed to talk to Alek. He sighed and stood up, getting the other two men’s attention.

“Going somewhere?” Holiday asked.

“I need a break. Sarge wanted to talk to me so I’ll be back in a bit.”

He left the room but didn’t go find sarge. Instead, he walked towards the cafeteria. Not everybody knew this, but through the window there, it was possible to access the fire staircase and reach the rooftop. The rooftop was where Jaime had hidden his cigarettes since he ‘quit smoking’ a few months ago.

He regretted it the second he opened the window and climbed outside in the suffocating heat, but he needed a smoke. The rooftops, as usual, was empty, so he retrieved his Lucky Strikes from the vent conduct, took off his t-shirt and sat on whatever little shadow he could find. The first drag tasted bad, he inhaled deep and then let the smoke go very slowly. Then it got better, exactly what he needed.

He sat there, smoking his cigarette and contemplating his life. Whatever he and Lance had was over, this time for good. Alek was mad at him, really mad this time. He had never seen his best friend so disappointed in him like that morning. He needed to fix that but didn’t know how to fix ten years of hiding secrets.

On the family front, Tess was having a hard time, his mom was dating a religious moron, and his sister had become a simple trophy wife. Of course, all that was James fault, according to himself. He had left them to join the marines, and they hadn’t been able to face the world on their own.

That was one of the things Dr. Ruthlo usually had to remind James, not everything would be his fault, many things were out of his control. Perhaps he needed to go back to therapy twice a week again.

“I thought you quit,” sarge’s deep voice startled him and brought him back from his deep thinking.

“Jesus fucking Christ, you want to give me a heart attack?” He asked, not offended, but slightly annoyed for not having heard such a big man approaching.

“You doing ok, kid?” Sarge asked, done with the chit-chat. “Wanna talk about it?”

“I fucked up last night, and I fought with Alek this morning. Holiday makes me nervous, and I’m afraid we are just getting started with a serial killer.”

“I see,” the sergeant sat next to him, pushing him to the left to make more room in the small shadow available in the rooftop. “You take off the shit because it’s too hot?”

“Nah, just so the smell won’t cling to me,” James explained, before letting the smoke out again. “I think I should go back to two sessions a week.”

“It’s okay if you think you need it, go ahead. You don’t need to ask permission for that,” they stayed in silence a few seconds before sarge spoke again. “Listen, I don’t know what you are going through, and I’m glad you decided to see the doctor more often on your own, but I need to ask you to take your job seriously kid. This is not the marines, this is not whatever you did in between that and this. There are rules, and you have to follow them like everybody else. So no drinking on weeknights or at least, don’t show up here hungover. Got it?”

“Yessir,” James responded. He took one last long drag to the cigarette and then turned it off against the sole of his shoe.

“Dress up and go back to work, will you?” said Gray, standing up and offering James a hand to do the same.

They went back downstairs, climbed the window back inside, ignoring the two officers in the cafeteria and took separate ways. James made a quick stop in the locker room to grab some mouthwash and then made a phone call on his way back to Zack and Holiday.

***

He had been back for barely two weeks, and he already remembered why he was so eager to leave New York in the first place the second he turned 18.

“Yes, dad,” said Ethan. His dad had been trying to get him to go play golf with him and his step-siblings for the last four days, and even though he understood his dad’s wishes, he didn’t feel very comfortable around those teenagers he had only seen three or four times, and he was sure they hated him. On the other hand, he had his mom and the big crazy Italian family, including numerous cousins and all of them wanted to see him these days.

“Okay then, see you on Friday. Dalia is very excited to see you,” his dad lied. Dalia hated him with a passion.

“See you on Friday,” Ethan hurried to hang up before his dad decided to add something else. It was just in time to see James turning the corner and walking towards him, on the phone as well. He didn’t mean to, but couldn’t help to listen to the detective’s conversation.

“Twice a week, just like before,” James said, right before noticing him. He acknowledged Ethan with a nod and turned around to keep pacing and talking on the phone, but further now. “Do I need to clear it out with the VA or – I see. Thanks. Bye,” He hung up and immediately addressed Ethan, “it’s rude to listen to other people’s conversations.”

“I’m sorry, I was myself on the phone just now,” he said showing his phone still on his hand. James stood in front of him awkwardly for a few seconds before looking down to avoid his eyes.

“We should go back to work,” James said and hurried back inside the room. Ethan followed him with his eyes. What a mystery. Who was Tess? Where was he going twice a weekend? If he mentioned the VA, maybe he needed treatment. Was he sick?

He joined the other two men in the room and sat in front of James. Maybe he couldn’t ask those questions, but he sure could spare a few glances and catch the cop staring back.

The rest of the morning went by without any advances. James looked at him, he would catch him and then the detective would be embarrassed and evasive. On the other hand, he realized that Zack might be nice and quiet but was also very observant, and the redhead didn’t miss a thing. Ethan suspected that Zack knew a lot more than he let out. Ethan liked that though, Zack seemed to just take in everything and wait for the right time.

Around an hour later he was leaving the station for lunch, he was meeting one of his friends from med school in a Cuban place nearby. He might be a bit overwhelmed with the family reunions, but this, his old friends, this he did like about New York. Those were the first people to know him, the real Ethan. His parents had been supportive of him when he came out an hour before he left for Boston to go to college, but the friends he met there became his other family.

He was thinking about the good old times back in med school while the elevator doors closed when James sneaked through them just in time.

They stood in silence while the elevator descended. When it stopped on the fourth floor, James got especially tense. The young man usually seemed a bomb ready to go off anytime, but that moment the tension was palpable. The doors opened, and another man climbed the elevator. It was evident that whoever he was, was the reason James was tense. The man was tall, dark-skinned, exotic. He was definitely attractive, but also, obviously straight.

“Hey, wanna grab lunch with me?” James asked the other guy, approaching him in the small space and speaking quietly.

“No, I’m meeting friends for lunch.” You didn’t need a psychiatry degree to recognize James heart breaking in that moment.

“Okay,” He murmured. Ethan felt a bit guilty because he was not invited to whatever drama was going on here, but then again, drama seemed to surround James at all times.

The descent seemed eternal after that awkward exchange, and once they reached the ground floor, the other man almost ran out of the elevator. James sighed and got out as well, ignoring Ethan.

He was totally going to gossip about this with Leah, she would love it.

As he expected, she was sitting and waiting for him at the restaurant. He saw her immediately, she was impossible to miss,  wearing a sleeveless white blouse, grey shorts and huge sunglasses that gave her that distinguished touch.

“Oh my God!” she exclaimed when she spotted him. “You look so handsome, but you shouldn’t wear those many clothes with this heat.” She’s stood up to hug him and to kiss the air nearby his face.

“You look amazing. And I can’t agree more,” Ethan said as he started taking off the jacket and loosened his tie a bit.

“So, I ordered sangria, you can start bitching now,” she explained offering one of the glasses with the refreshing drink, “Who’s worse, mom or dad?” Leah asked, sitting again, and readying for the conversation.

“So far, dad. He wants me to befriend the twins.”

“Ugh, those kids are evil. Whatever happened to their mother? She’s the one in rehab?” She asked. Ethan’s dad had married 3 times so far, none of them to his mother. He had 4 children, Ethan was the first, then came the twins and now he had another kid with his latest wife, Dalia.

“No, that was the first one, Claudia, she tried to kill him with a chandelier. Then came Sofia, she’s the twins’ mother.”

“It’s hard to keep up with your dad. What about mom?”

“Single, she married the restaurant and never looked back. My aunt Lucrezia says she’s on tinder though.” Ethan admitted. He found it hilarious. His mother was still young, and an attractive and successful woman, she owned one of the trendiest restaurants in the island and apparently had a very active and interesting social life. Ethan was happy for her, she gave up way too many things, and she deserved to start living a little.

“And isn’t Lucrezia judging her? I would expect your mom to be on Christian Mingle,” Leah half-joked. Only half, Ethan’s mom’s family was Italian, therefore Catholic. Very Catholic.

“She tried apparently. No Bueno. Anyway, what about you?”

“I have many patients, all of them are crazy, some of them are getting better.” She said shrugging. “I’m busy, and busy is good.”

“I’d love to be able to say the same thing. In my field, busy is bad.”

“You still have time to leave the FBI and join my practice and treat patients instead of serial killers. God knows the last time you barely made it alive.” Oh, there she went again. She was still mad about that ‘last time.’ Ethan didn’t blame her and had to respect it because she was the one to visit him in the hospital and lie to his parents.

“Not for now, but I appreciate the offer. You still treating CIA broken toys? That might make the offer actually worth considering.”

“Shut it, you know I can’t talk about it. And since you are being mean, let’s talk about Derek,” Ethan was about to protest, but the waiter’s arrival to take their order interrupted him. They ordered Ensalada de jicama and roast pork, recommended by Leah, who apparently came to this place quite often. “Don’t think I have forgotten. Derek, start speaking.”

“What for? Are you gonna play shrink with me?”

“Do you need me to? Why do you think you always go for unavailable men? Is it because you can’t trust them at all when they make themselves available? Not that I blame you,” she admitted.

“And I thought that seeing you all the time was going to be the best part of being back.” Ethan lamented.

“Aw, don’t say that. If you are not ready to talk about that piece of shit, or those pieces of shit if we go way back, we can talk about something else. How’s your new team? Do you like them?”

“Have you heard about Lena Ellis?”

“Yes. Who hasn’t? She ruined her ex’s wedding, and he got a restraining order. Rumor has it she broke into the guy's house, not that the guy can prove it, she had someone do the dirty jobs for her.”

“Dirty job?”

“I don’t know how much of this is true, but some people say she flooded the place with blood. Nobody knows where the blood came from.” Ethan totally believed Lena capable of something like that. “Anyway, someone hot? I’m sure that you’ve met some sexy special agents by now,” she said playfully.

“Not really. Our team is pretty small, it’s just beside Lena, there are only three more people, one is another woman, and the two guys are straight. I’m not so sure about Jesse, he might just be Texan.”

“That’s all? Where is the drama? I made time for you so we could talk about boys, like the good all times.” She complained.

“You can talk about boys too, you know? It’s not like I’m the only one with eyes.”

“I’m not seeing anyone, my life has been so boring without you. Since Mila got married and Julien got divorced, we don’t hang out anymore,” she explained. His friends had grown up. Some had married, and some others had even divorced already. The mere idea of getting married still made him feel uncomfortable, not because he was commitment-phobe, but he definitely had his reasons.

“Oh, I almost forgot,” said Ethan, “there is some drama going on with one of the cops we are working.”

“You are working with the cops? What for?”

“Nothing important so far. The thing is, I’m pretty sure he is interested in me, probably men in general, but he’s so deeply in the closet that his probably best friends with Mr. Tumnus.”

“Don’t be mean, remember that not everybody has cool parents. Besides, the NYPD might be better than many other local police departments but is still full of bigots. I don’t blame him.”

“Whatever. I have caught him staring at me several times. He played it cool at first, but I’m pretty sure he saw something he liked,” he said with a naughty smile.

“Hm, so are you going to act on it? Seduce the poor closeted cop?”

“Ha!” Ethan exclaimed, “I’m not dating a closeted case ever again. Besides, I think he’s lusting after a straight guy and that he might have a girlfriend.”

“Stupidly complicated. It’s totally your type, darling. ýou should date him.” Ethan laughed because she was absolutely right. His last relationship, to call it something, had been near two years of secretly dating on and off a married man, who on top of everything happened to be his boss. He still remembered Derek’s face when he found out that Ethan had requested to relocate to New York’s field office. Ultimately, it was Derek who had to approve the transfer, and even though he tried to stop Ethan, he had given up in the end, sure that Ethan would come back to him sooner rather than later. That was not going to happen.

“Is he cute?” Leah asked suddenly, while the waiter set their food on the table.

“Who? Derek?” Ethan had got caught up in a brief stroll down memory lane and didn’t know what his friend was talking about.

“No, silly, the cop. Is he one of those puzzles you like to try to solve?” There was no doubt that Leah knew him well.

“There are a few things that I do find intriguing. He’s an ex-marine, but there is a gap between his last tour and he joining the police, and whatever he did for those months is classified.” Ethan couldn’t help to love a good mystery, and sometimes he needed a friendly reminder that some of them were not for him to uncover. He looked at Leah and saw something weird on her for a millisecond. She was a great psychiatrist and pretty good at keeping a poker face at all times, but Ethan was trained to find any little thing that could give someone away, and he was sure he had just seen his friend acknowledge something. “What?”

She looked away, and took her glass, drinking before responding. “Nothing,” she said at first. “It’s just that, some vets sometimes need some time to readjust. It’s not crazy to think that they might have taken time off. One of my patients checked himself in in a mental institution for a little while before going back home.”

Ethan was poking around the salad and took a bite before answering that. “I get that, but why is it classified? Huh?”

“Honestly, if it’s classified you probably shouldn’t mess with the guy, for all you know, he might be crazy and dangerous.” She joked.

“Wouldn’t be surprised if the police had hired an unstable psychotic ex-marine,” Ethan concluded. “Anyway, wanna go clubbing this weekend?” He asked, changing the topic. He didn’t want another difficult relationship but wouldn’t say no to some easy and uncomplicated one-night stand.

“Oh thank God, I thought you’d never ask,” she smiled at him, showing his perfect porcelain teeth.

 

That Tuesday was the last day Ethan worked with the NYPD in the station that week. After they found the phone clean, Lena decided to prioritize other cases but still kept an eye out for the girl with the thousand stabs.

After that, Ethan was both glad and disappointed of not going back to the station. The case was getting cold, and the NYPD seemed to have found a wall. Without a weapon, a motive or any suspects, the case was going nowhere. He was aware of the volume of work detectives could have, so he wasn’t surprised when he heard they weren't actively working on it anymore.His unit wasn’t any different, Lena had assigned them a new case that seemed to move a lot faster than the previous one and Ethan was glad of seeing results.

The week was coming to an end, and he was more than ready to enjoy his recently acquired freedom and singlehood and have a great time with whoever who offered without any attachments.

 

Meanwhile, somewhere else in the city, Jamie was going through a personal hell, and a serial killer was choosing his next victim.


End file.
